Twenty University of Notre Dame students and alumni have been awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to learn or teach abroad in 2019-20. Five alternates and 18 semifinalists also were named, for a total of 43 students and alumni recognized.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, offering grants to research, study and teach abroad. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Notre Dame has appeared on this list for five consecutive years, coming in second among all institutions in the nation for the 2017-18 list.
Undergraduate and graduate students and alumni apply for the program with help from the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) or the Graduate School Office of Grants and Fellowships.
“On behalf of CUSE, I congratulate this year’s recipients, alternates and semifinalists, all of whom have achieved something of note,” said Jeffrey Thibert, the Paul and Maureen Stefanick Director of CUSE. “Notre Dame’s consistently strong outcomes in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program are a direct result of the outstanding opportunities that the University provides to both our undergraduates and graduate students to pursue meaningful international research and to serve both domestic and international communities through teaching, and the excellent advising available to our students through CUSE, the Graduate School and their faculty and staff mentors.”
Samantha Lee, program director in the Office of Grants and Fellowships, said, “This year’s Fulbright cohort is impressive in its disciplinary breadth. Not only is Notre Dame sending abroad a selection of students that represent the University’s finest minds and hearts, but we do so from fields not previously represented in past years, including fine arts, computer science and global affairs. The scope of this year’s Fulbright winners illustrates that Notre Dame’s mission of being ‘a force for good’ is recognized at the highest levels — both nationally and globally.”
The 20 finalists are:
• Kristine Anderson, applied and computational mathematics and statistics and German, Class of 2019 — English teaching assistantship to Germany.
• Allison Bahneman, Alliance for Catholic Education, 2019 — English teaching assistantship to Colombia.
• Kay Bontempo, film, television and theater and political science, Class of 2019 — study and research grant to Italy.
• Isabel Cabezas, honors art history, Class of 2017 — student and research grant to Ireland.
• Hye-Sim Chung, psychology and German, Class of 2019 — English teaching assistantship to Germany.
• Jeremiah Coogan, doctor of theology, 2019 — study and research grant to Germany.
• Kristin Cullinan, psychology, Class of 2019 — English teaching assistantship to Spain.
• Allison Hidalgo, international economics, Class of 2019 — study and research grant to Spain.
• Ellie Kallgren, science and business, Class of 2019 — English teaching assistantship to Croatia.
• Steven Lemke, master of fine arts in sculpture, 2019 — study and research grant to Slovak Republic.
• Caroline McGowan, neuroscience and behavior, Class of 2019 — English teaching assistantship to India.
• Christian McGrew, political science, Class of 2019 — English teaching assistantship to Taiwan.
• Caroline Murtagh, biological sciences, Class of 2019 — study and research grant to Uganda.
• Brandon RichardWebster, doctor of computer science, 2019 — study and research grant to Australia.
• Beth Spesia, liberal studies and peace studies, Class of 2015 — English teaching assistantship to Mexico.
• Jack Sullivan, neuroscience and behavior, Class of 2019 — English teaching assistantship to Mexico.
• Joseph Thomas, master of fine arts in creative writing, 2019 — study and research grant to Mexico.
• Olivia Till, political science, Class of 2017 — study and research grant to Spain.
• Sonia Urquidi, master of global affairs, 2019 — study and research grant to Chile.
• Zoe Usowski, film, television and theater, Class of 2019 — English teaching assistantship to Spain.
Students or recent alumni interested in this or other fellowship opportunities are encouraged to complete the CUSE pre-application at cuse.nd.edu/fellowships.
Contact: Erin Blasko, assistant director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu