Twelve Columbia College students and two alumni have received 2019-2020 Fulbright U.S. Student grants to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide, making it the largest group of Fulbright students to represent the College in years.
Eight seniors and two alumni awardeees, Isabel McGrory-Klyza CC’17 and Annette Finnegan CC’17, received Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships and will be teaching English around the world. McGrory-Klyza will teach in Belgium; Kimberly Sanchez CC’19, a psychology major, will be based in Brazil; Sara Castro CC’19, a comparative literature and society major, will be going to Colombia; Anna Hennigan CC’19, a comparative literature and society major, will be heading to Germany; Theodore Ostrow CC’19, an American studies major, will be teaching in Mexico; Haidee Chen CC’19, a biology major, will be based in Malaysia; Philip Grayson CC’19, an English major, will be heading to Portugal; Adam Fasman CC’19, a biology major, will both teach in Spain; and Benjamin Regas CC’19, a political science major, will teach in Taiwan.
Three seniors were awarded Open Study-Research Scholarships. They include Waleed Ali CC’19, a neuroscience and behavior major who will study ecology in Denmark; Safwan Khatib CC’19, a classics major who will pursue creative writing in Morocco; and Ryan Schweitzer CC’19, a political science major who will head to Uzbekistan to study political science.
In addition, Andrew Sobelsohn CC’19, a history major, was awarded a Fulbright M.A. Degree Award to study modern history in Israel.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in more than 140 countries worldwide and awards approximately 2,000 grants annually in all fields of study. From its inception, the Fulbright Program has fostered bilateral relationships in which citizens and governments of other countries work with the U.S. to set joint priorities and shape the program to meet shared needs. It is sponsored by U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
During their grant periods, Fulbright students meet, work, live with and learn from the people of their host country, sharing daily experiences and thereby promoting mutual understanding.
“For decades, a staunch belief in international partnership has been the key tenet of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Columbia College may be the greatest college in the greatest university in the greatest city in the world, but the greatest college cannot exist without the brightest, most tenacious students and the greatest city cannot be great without nurturing its relevant, incomparable presence across the globe,”said Ariella Lang, associate dean of Academic Affairs and director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. “These students are the new guard, our ambassadors. We wish them the very best.”