CONTACT:  Bushra Asif, (405) 325-1913

During the spring semester 2017, nine University of Oklahoma students were named recipients of Fulbright Grants for academic year 2017-2018.

·      Hannah Kristen Baird, of Overland Park, Kansas, earned a bachelor’s degree in education. She is spending the upcoming academic year as an English teaching assistant in Mexico.

·      Kate Bergum, of Superior, Wisconsin, earned a bachelor’s degree in English, professional writing and psychology. She is serving as an English teaching assistant in Macedonia.

·      Joseph Brown, of Kansas City, Missouri, is working on a master’s degree in biology. He is conducting research in the Philippines on the conservation and ecology of the critically endangered Philippine crocodile. 

·      Laura Catherine Burns, of Edmond, Oklahoma, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in letters and German. She is working as an English teaching assistant in Germany.

·      Molly Catherine Hackett, of Denver, Colorado, earned a bachelor’s degree in European and international studies. For her Fulbright, she will be pursuing a master’s degree in European studies at the University of Leuven in Belgium.

·      Rosemary Mahaffey, of Norman, Oklahoma, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music and letters with a minor in anthropology. She is spending 2017-2018 as an English teaching assistant in Germany.

·      Hailey Nicole Powell, of Durant, Oklahoma, is earning a master’s degree in Global Affairs and will be an English teaching assistant as part of the Roma Student Initiative in Hungary.

·      Cody Williams, of Norman, Oklahoma, is pursuing a master’s degree in history. He will spend his Fulbright year in Porto Alegre and Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where he will conduct research on the politics and ethics surrounding accidents and litigation in the coal mining and textile industries.

·      Jordan Woodward, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduated with a master’s degree in English. She will conduct a series of digital storytelling workshops with women in New Delhi and Varanasi, India, regarding their socio-cultural, religious and domestic relationships to and interactions with the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India.

“Fulbright grants are awarded on the basis of academic excellence, achievement and leadership potential,” said Bushra Asif, the Fulbright Programs Coordinator, housed in the OU College of International Studies. “These nine grants are a testament to our outstanding student body and the university. We wish these students all the success in their future academic journey.”

The U.S. Congress created the Fulbright Program in 1946, immediately after World War II, to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges. Funded through an annual appropriation by the United States Congress to the U.S. Department of State and managed by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs today the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s premier scholarship program. The Program has provided more than 370,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—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.

For more information on the Fulbright U.S. Student Program or the application process, please visit us.fulbrightonline.org or contact Asif at bushrasif@ou.edu.