(Corvallis, OR, May, 2019) National and Global Scholarships Advising at Oregon State University is pleased to announce that four OSU students have been selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program study/research award for the 2019-2020 academic year by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Two additional OSU students are currently alternates, awaiting further notification.

 

The four students named 2019-2020 Fulbright scholars include:  

Delaney Smith is a graduating senior in Honors Biochemistry and Biophysics and Education with a minor in Chemistry Education.  Delaney is originally from Moscow, Russia but grew up in Portland, Oregon. After graduation, she will fulfill a Fulbright grant in Ghent, Belgium where she will conduct structural biology research. Upon her return to the United States, she plans to begin her graduate studies in biophysics and chemical biology with the ultimate goal of developing translational biomedical therapies.

Maggie Exton is a PhD student in Civil Engineering with a certificate in College and University Teaching. Her research focuses on soil instability as a result of tsunami inundation, which can greatly enhance damage caused by the large wave. Next year, Maggie will carry out her Fulbright project in Indonesia, collaborating with a local tsunami expert to address vulnerability in coastal infrastructure design. In the future, she plans to continue her natural disaster research as a faculty member at a university, where she can also teach future generations of engineers.

Andrea Burton is a PhD candidate in Integrative Biology with a certificate in College and University Teaching, studying the adaptive potential of local marine invertebrates to ocean acidification. Over the past few years, she has become increasingly interested in teaching techniques that improve student performance, which led to her application for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Romania. It is her hope that in teaching a humanities course abroad, she may find techniques that can be applied in science courses to increase student engagement and understanding. 

 

Omar Sheikh from Portland, OR is a master’s student in bioengineering. At the University of Alberta, Canada, Omar will have a unique opportunity to investigate therapies for neuromuscular conditions that can elevate patient well-being. At the same time, Omar is excited to take part in enhancing US-Canada relations by bridging researchers, disability advocacy groups, and citizens through shared research and understanding. While there, Omar will also lead outreach on disability with an emphasis on patient perceptions of treatment.

 

These students are among over 1,900 U.S. citizens who will study, conduct research, and teach abroad for the 2019-2020 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.

 

Current alternates for the 2019-2020 Fulbright include Greg Heinonen (Denmark), a graduating senior earning an Honors Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a concentration in Health Promotion and Health Behavior; and Lorraine “Mamo” Waianuhea (New Zealand) who graduated in 2018 with an Honors Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. 

 

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 380,000 participants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Over 1,900 U.S. students, artists, and early career professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English, and conduct research annually in over 140 countries throughout the world. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation by the United States Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.

 

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit https://us.fulbrightonline.org/. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered at Oregon State University through LeAnn Adam, OSU National and Global Scholarships Advising Coordinator. For more information about applying for Fulbright or other national and international scholarships and fellowships, please contact LeAnn at [email protected]  and visit: http://topscholars.oregonstate.edu