Our students are continuing an OHIO tradition of winning nationally competitive awards, which academically speaking is like winning Olympic gold.
This site profiles some of our award-winning students. Many other OHIO scholars are competing for and winning honors from organizations across the nation. For an expanded listing and additional information, please visit the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards Web site.
As our academic community works together to build on a 200-year legacy of excellence, we salute the outstanding achievements of our students and the dedicated faculty members who support them in their remarkable endeavors.
Congratulations—you make us all very proud!
Related Links
If you are a current Ohio University student and would like to learn more about competing for these scholarships, visit our Office of Nationally Competitive Awards online.
If you are a prospective student and would like to find out more about the opportunities available at Ohio University, please visit our admissions Web site.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
 | |
Goldwater Scholarship
Eden Almasude
An outstanding sophomore, Eden received a 2009 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mention. After completing her undergraduate work, she plans to earn a graduate degree in immunology and conduct research in immunobacteriology. |
 | |
Fulbright Award
Elizabeth Atwell
Elizabeth earned her bachelor’s in theater performance in 2004 and has been the artistic director of Factory Street Studio for the past two years. With her Fulbright, she will study dance styles and technique of the country of Georgia. She also hopes to gain insight into the local culture and the function dance serves in various communities. In addition to pursuing the Fulbright program, Elizabeth graduated magna cum laude and participated in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. She would like to carry her research into a master’s degree program, working with dance, choreography, and anthropology.
“I am so thrilled to be receiving this Fulbright,” Elizabeth said. “It gives me the opportunity to learn and study, again, another country’s dance styles and technique.”
|
 | |
Fulbright Award
Anthony Austin
Anthony is a third-year doctoral student in experimental psychology from Franklin, Tennessee. He will use the Fulbright grant to conduct his dissertation research in Bern, Switzerland, where he will study with a leading researcher on the relationship between psychological stress and blood clotting. He hopes to pinpoint mechanisms linking acute psychological stress to acute coronary syndromes such as strokes and heart attacks. He would like to eventually acquire a professorship at a university that will allow him to split his time between teaching and carrying out research.
Anthony’s other accomplishments include receiving the 2009 Student Enhancement Award and serving as instructor of Psychology 312. He also served on the Curriculum, Scholarships and Awards Committee for the psychology department from 2008 to 2009 and a published an article in "Stress and Health."
|
 | |
Udall Scholarship
Emily Bacha
Emily is a 2009 Morris K. Udall Scholarship winner, receiving a $5,000 award given to just 80 students nationwide. A native of Valley View, Ohio, Emily aspires to work in urban planning, helping city leaders to develop sustainability plans. Her environmental interests stem from her 2001 participation in a special program working with scientists in Alaska, and sharing those experiences with children worldwide. She says that opportunity transformed her appreciation for nature into a “passion for conservation and protection of world ecosystems.”
In 2007, she was part of the Consortium for Energy, Economics and the Environment team established through OHIO’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs. Her distinguished Ohio University career also includes serving as a peer mentor in the Tropical Biodiversity and Environmental Issues learning community, which gave her the opportunity to foster the educational development of several freshman students and chaperone them on a two-week field identification course in Bocas del Toro, Panama.
|
 | |
Goldwater Scholarship
John Blischak
John is one of only 278 students nationwide to receive a 2009 Goldwater Scholarship. He plans to pursue graduate study and obtain a Ph.D. in molecular biology. John found the inspiration for his career path through research he undertook at Ohio University with Eric Masson in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. In accepting his Goldwater award, John expresses his gratitude to all who have helped him along the way. “It was a great honor to receive the Goldwater Scholarship,” he notes. “I am appreciative of the preparation I have received from my teachers, family, and classmates over the years.” |
 | |
Fulbright Award
Amy Busch
A native of Hamler, Ohio, Amy is a senior majoring in health communication with a certificate from the Global Leadership Center and the Teaching English as a Foreign Language program. Her Fulbright grant to South Korea will give her the opportunity to teach conversational English classes and study the Korean language.
In addition to her studies at Ohio University, she is the treasurer of Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communication Association Honor Society, and she received the Communication Studies Undergraduate Achievement Award. In the future, she would like to be an international health consultant working on global health communication campaigns and programming. |
 | |
French Government Teaching Assistantship
Amanda Catron
A senior from Dublin, Ohio, Amanda works as a resident assistant and East Green office assistant for the Department of Residence Life. In addition to majoring in French, she is pursuing a minor in linguistics and a certificate in international studies (Europe).
She is a member of the McNair Scholars program, Residents’ Action Council, and French Conversation Club. Her honors include receiving the Mary L. Durnion French Scholarship, the Richard and Dolores Kirby Study Abroad Scholarship, and the Ohio University Bobcat Award. She also works as a French tutor. Her career goal is to work in the field of sociolinguistics, possibly as a linguistic discrimination specialist. |
 | |
Hollings Scholarship
Nicole Grams
A sophomore from Mentor, Ohio, Nicole serves as secretary for the synchronized skating team; resident assistant in Residential Housing; secretary for Gamma Theta Upsilon, the National “ Newswatch,” and student advisor for Bobcat Student Orientation. She plans to use her knowledge and understanding of the weather to inform and protect the public.
“Winning the Hollings Scholarship was a goal I set as soon as I heard about the award as a freshman,” Nicole said. “I hope to study tropical weather in Hawaii or the Gulf Coast the summer after my junior year. Winning the award has given me the confidence to assert my talents in the field of meteorology. I feel that so many doors have been opened and winning the Hollings was the biggest step I will make in my college career.”
|
 | |
Austrian Ministry of Education Teaching Assistantship
Megan Higgins
A 2008 Ohio University graduate from Vandalia, Ohio, Megan will use her scholarship to become fluent in the German and learn more about Austria and its culture. Her degree in history and minor in German will be of daily benefit as she gains valuable experience teaching in two Austrian schools. She is a member of Ohio University’s Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society.
“As a teaching assistant in Austria, I will gain valuable teaching experience that I can utlilize as a history professor,” Megan said. “Understanding the culture and people of Austria will better my ability to teach and explain European society and history.”
|
 | |
German Academic Exchange Service Undergraduate Scholarship
Marcus Hohe
A junior from Galloway, Ohio, Marcus is a member of Delta Phi Alpha, the National German Honor Society. His career goal is to earn graduate degrees in German studies and linguistics and work in the translation field or teach English in Germany.
“The DAAD undergraduate scholarship will support me financially as I head overseas to take courses that will help in the completion of my undergraduate degree,” Marcus said, noting that his studies will also serve as a basis for his planned graduate work.
|
 | |
Philanthropic Educational Organization Scholarship
Lilia Krasteva
A graduate student from Sofia, Bulgaria, Lilia also is a volunteer for the Ohio Valley International Council, in Athens from January to March. She is teaching Italian during spring quarter and will serve as a peer advisor for new graduate students next year. Her goal is to work as a development practitioner who helps people understand poverty and create income-earning opportunities for them. She also hopes to change the way multilateral organizations support developing countries, by pushing for a more people-oriented approach.
“This scholarship makes possible the most valuable opportunity that I have ever had, because it will keep me at Ohio University to finish my studies in development,” Lilia said. “My aim is to become a development practitioner who works for the creation of more equal opportunities and toward a more just society.”
|
 | |
Tau Beta Pi Record Scholarship
Lauren Logan
A senior from Rutland, Ohio, Lauren has served as president of Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society; president of Eta Kappa Nu, an electrical engineering honor society; and president of Sigma Gamma Epsilon, an earth sciences honor society. She was a member of the winning senior design team in the electrical engineering-computer science 3 category at the 2009 Ohio University Research and Creativity Fair as well as a Robe Scholar and a Cutler Scholar. She was the 2007 Outstanding Junior in Electrical Engineering and is a past president of Students Teaching About Racism in Society (STARS). She also received the Pepsi Leadership Award.
Lauren plans to use her award to complete her undergraduate studies. Her future plans include pursuing an advanced degree in earth materials engineering or environmental engineering, owning a business, and becoming a college professor.
|
 | |
Fulbright Award
Bailey Miles
A senior biology and Spanish major from Athens, Ohio, Bailey will use his Fulbright award to participate in health research in Spain. He hopes to enhance his research and language skills so that he will be better equipped to treat patients, especially Spanish-speakers, both in the U.S. and abroad. Eventually, he would like to become a physician and contribute to translational research with clinical applications. In addition to his studies, Bailey has volunteered at Appalachian Behavioral Healthcare and participated in Ohio University’s cycling club and student senate.
“A Fulbright in Spain will play an important role in my career development by providing research training along with the opportunity to improve my Spanish,” he notes.
|
 | |
Fulbright Award
Matthew Minarchek
A native of Cambridge, Ohio, Matthew is a master’s student in Southeast Asian studies. He hopes to highlight the effects of rural energy development on small communities in Indonesia. He would like to eventually teach anthropology, development, and Southeast Asian studies at the university level. In addition to participating in the Fulbright scholarship, he has completed and successfully defended his master’s thesis and conducted ethnographic field research in three rural Indonesian communities during the summer of 2008.
“So often, development in the Global South has worked to benefit multinational corporations and governments while leaving the local communities behind,” Matthew explains. “With this award, I will work directly with a rural community to explore how small-scale development and access to electricity has impacted their lives, for the better or worse.”
|
 | |
Udall Scholarship
Molly Shea
A junior from Delaware, Ohio, Molly received a 2009 Morris K. Udall honorable mention, a $350 award. Molly is a member of the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition, Student Sierra Club, and the Green Network.
Molly sees the value of her award not in terms of personal achievement but rather in how it underscores the causes to which she is dedicated. “I think receiving this honor is a sign of what is to come and I am excited the Udall Foundation sees value in the environmental and social justice movement,” she said. After graduation, she plans to work as a community organizer and pursue a graduate degree in environmental sociology. |
 | |
Fulbright Award
Angela Shoemaker
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Angela is a master’s student in visual communication. She will use her Fulbright grant to work on a photographic documentary project in the Netherlands. This documentary, about Muslim youth culture and integrations within Dutch society, will serve as her master’s project. Her long-term goals include working on documentary projects that bring attention to underrepresented issues in the international media with the hope of increasing people’s understanding of global events.
Angela also received a Marvin E. Parsons Scholarship through the School of Visual Communication. Her many activities include membership in the National Press Photographers Associations at Ohio University, participating in the “Soul of Athens” project, and contributing to “Dawn to Dusk.” She has also served as a "Southeast Ohio" magazine photographer, instructor for the graduate student photography review course, teacher’s assistant and VisCom studio manager, equipment team leader and technology team member for the Best of Photojournalism Editing Competition 2008 and technology team leader for Best of Photojournalism Editing Competition 2009.
|
 | |
French Government Teaching Assistantship
Joel Smith
A senior from Albany, Ohio, Joel has been safety officer of the Ohio University Duello Fencing Club, chapter president of the Society of Physics Students, co-founder and president of the Natural Ohio University Barbershop Singers, and a member of Shire of Dernehealde (local branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism). His career goal is to earn a graduate degree and become an educator at the high school or college level.
“The opportunity to spend 6 to 9 months in France will improve my career immeasurably,” Joel said. “Whether I decide to become a high-school French or physics teacher, continue with advanced studies in French or neither, the opportunity to be immersed in a different culture and learn to adapt to it will have applications in many ways, most of which I’m sure I haven’t even considered yet.”
|
 | |
Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund Scholarship
Farina So
A graduate student from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Farina took part in Hannah Fink’s documentary film “Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge” and will participate in the Khmer Studies Forum this summer. Her career goal is to become an oral historian and womens activist.
“It is such great honor for me to receive this award,” Farina said, noting that the award will fund her Ohio University studies and “help me continue my mission to have a career that benefits women and children.”
|
 | |
Boren National Security Education Program (NSEP) Scholarship
Beth Thompson
A junior from Strongsville, Ohio, Beth will use her NSEP/Boren scholarship to become fluent in Russian while studying at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. This opportunity represents a significant step toward her career goal of working in International Security Studies in the U.S. or abroad. As part of the NSEP scholarship, she will work in national security with the federal government for a minimum of one year. She is a 2008–09 Voinovich Undergraduate Research Scholar; board member of Delta Phi Alpha, a German honors society; member of Golden Key International, an international honors society; executive board member of service organization, Circle K International; and vice president of Newman Community, a Catholic student organization.
“This award will enable me to add a critical language to my repertoire, which will expand my opportunities to work in international security,” Beth said. “As a recipient, I have a wonderful opportunity to study in an exciting part of the world and experience its language and culture. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity and plan to make the most of it.”
|
 | |
Howard National Collegiate Reporting Award
Chelsea Toy
A junior from Apollo, Pennsylvania, Chelsea has complemented her journalism major with additional coursework in African American Studies and Swahili. Her Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Award will provide a 13-day, all-expenses paid trip to Japan and South Korea. During the trip, she will network with media professionals and learn more about the history and culture of the countries.
Chelsea works as a campus staff writer for the “Athens News” and has interned as a journalist in Cape Town, South Africa, and Washington, D.C. She is a past recipient of Lasher-Evarts Quality of Writing Award, Copley Newspaper Association Scholarship, Scripps College of Communication Scholarship, Dean’s Scholarship, and the Sarah Katherine Ullman Internship/Scholarship. She also has served as an out-of-state ambassador for the Scripps School of Journalism. In her spare time, she races barrel horses and hopes to one day write for a publication that covers the horse industry.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
