Newsroom
10 Win Fulbright Scholarships
Ten Occidental College students have won prestigious Fulbright Scholarships to work and study abroad, double the previous record for the College set three years ago.
Recipients of a Fulbright Fellowship have attained a remarkable personal accomplishment," said Lynn Dumenil, the Robert Glass Cleland Professor of American History and Fulbright program adviser, "but I like to think these successful applicants also reflect the way Occidental prepares students for such achievements and assists them in achieving their goals."
Jean Lee Duong ’07 of San Luis Obispo, a music major, and Laura Knuttunen of Watertown, Mass., an urban and environmental policy major, will teach English in South Korea. Kether Hayden of Gresham, Ore., also a UEP major, will serve at the school of social sciences of l'Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan in France.
Elizabeth Wytychak of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, a cognitive science major, will teach English in Indonesia. Peter J. Christeleit, a diplomacy and world affairs major from Lingle, Wy.; Rebecca Shipps, a DWA major from Sebastopol, Calif.; and Riley Steiner, a biology and DWA double major from Spokane, Wash., will all be going to Malaysia.
Case Prager of Los Angeles, an independent pattern of study major, will be posted to Ecuador, and Tamara Shogaolu of Dulles, Va., an economics major, will be heading to Egypt. Finally, Jessica Abenstein from Oronoco, Minn., a DWA major, has received a Fulbright to travel to Tajikistan.
The 10 are among 31 Occidental students and alumni who have won Fulbrights since 2003.
“Since my first year at Oxy, I have dreamed about becoming a Fulbright scholar,” Duong said. “Receiving this award was a big surprise and a tremendous honor.” She adds, “I am very passionate about cross-cultural communication and reciprocal learning. In the classroom and in living with my host family, I hope to be a person who helps bridge cultural gaps and misunderstandings. I look forward to my world perspectives being challenged and having the opportunity to challenge the views of others.”
“I'm very excited about the opportunity to live in Malaysia,” said Steiner. “I know it will be full of both exciting and difficult challenges that will make my time there a powerful personal growing experience. Since I eventually want to purse a career in international public health, the more cross-cultural experiences I can have the better prepared I will be to truly engage in this field and work effectively in international settings, whether doing field research or designing programs or policies.”
The Fulbright program, which covers travel, education, and living expenses, was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
Founded in 1887, Occidental is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast. Since winning its first Rhodes Scholarship in 1907, the college has consistently won national and international recognition for academic achievement. U.S. News & World Report has ranked the institution in the top tier of liberal arts colleges since 1991.