Wooster Recognized as a Top Producer of Fulbright U.S. Students
WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster is among the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most Fulbright U.S. students during the 2019-20 academic year, and it was formally recognized as a “top producer” by the Fulbright program with a listing, published by The Chronicle of Higher Education on Monday.
Wooster was one of 44 baccalaureate institutions with four or more Fulbright recipients during the previous academic year. Twelve students in all applied and four were awarded, with support from the on-campus Fulbright committee, which is administered by co-chairs David McConnell, professor of sociology and anthropology, and Laura Sirot, associate professor of biology.
“This recognition from the U.S. Fulbright Commission is a testimony both to our outstanding student applicants and to their staff and faculty mentors, who have together created a vibrant campus culture of conversation about the Fulbright application process and the transformative effects of awards,” commented McConnell.
Wooster’s recipients were Emani Kelley ’19 and Burke Poeting ’19, awarded English Teaching Assistantships in Spain and Germany, respectively, and Joe Besl ’09 and Erin Tupman ’19, who are pursuing research in Canada and Russia, respectively.
McConnell noted that this continues a strong trend, as Wooster, which is “deeply committed to producing internationally-minded graduates,” has 20 Fulbright winners to its credit since 2010, including 13 in the past five years.
The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, was created to increase mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and people of other countries. The primary source of funding is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. More than 2,200 U.S. students and 900 college and university faculty are awarded Fulbright grants annually. In addition, some 4,000 Fulbright Foreign Students and Visiting Scholars come to the U.S. each year to study, lecture, conduct research, or teach their native language.
Posted in News on February 11, 2020.
