Compiled by Katie Fitzgerald
This year multiple Ohio University undergraduate and graduate students have been nominated for top national scholarships. To date, five students have officially been named recipients of their pertaining award.
Fulbright Award
Jennifer Demuria, a dual master's student in Southeast Asian studies and environmental science, will study and catalog a species of tree violets in Indonesia during the 2003-2004 academic year. She earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology at Ohio University.
Vincent Baratta, a German major, will be a high school English teaching assistant in Germany.
Kristopher Imbrigotta, a double major in German and BIAS-European Studies, will also be a high school English teaching assistant in Germany and in addition will do research on German literature.
Dawn Rogier will be an English teaching assistant at a Romanian university. She will also advise Romanian students who plan to study abroad in the United States and elsewhere and will help those students who also want to apply for a Fulbright grant.
David Lee, a master's student in visual communication, will be an English teaching assistant in Korea in a high school outside of Seoul.
Justin Hanus, an Honors Tutorial College student, was chosen as an alternate. If chosen, he will go to Japan where he will enroll in business classes at a Japanese university and complete an internship with a Japanese corporation.
Finalist Amy Thompson, a master's student in visual communication, is still waiting for word on her proposed project. She hopes to travel to Morocco to photograph urban and rural Moroccan and Muslim women to help break stereotypes that exist today.
This year seven students were recommended to the final round of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the highest number of recommended students that Ohio University has had the last ten years.
Fulbright awards provide support for graduate students and young professionals to study abroad. Awards include full grants for an academic year of study or research, travel grants and teaching assistantships in English.
Goldwater
Juniors Jessica Benson, Kimberly Borley and Natalie Kruse were three of the 300 undergraduate students chosen from a field of 1,093 nominees nationwide to win the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. They join six other Ohio University students who have received the award since its inception in 1986.
Benson is an Honors Tutorial College student and engineering physics major from McKeesport, Pa. She plans on pursuing a doctorate in bioengineering and biophysics research and hopes to conduct research in biological processes such as photosynthesis, tissue growth and cell signaling.
Borley, a native of Springfield, Ohio, is a marine biology major. Planning to pursue a doctorate in marine biology, Borley wants to conduct research into the behavior of marine organisms.
Kruse, a civil engineering major from Athens, Ohio, plans to pursue a doctorate in environmental geochemistry. She hopes to conduct research, design remediation options and resource protection methods in a civil or environmental engineering firm.
The foundation is a federally-endowed agency encouraging outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering.
Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship
Ohio University senior Robert McDonie was awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship. McDonie of Waverly, Ohio, is an English major in the College of Arts and Sciences honors program. Also a Rhodes state finalist, McDonie plans to pursue a doctorate in English with a specialization in critical theory and to teach at the college level.
The Mellon Fellowship is intended to help prepare students for teaching and research careers in humanistic disciplines. The fellowship provides a tuition waiver and $17,500 stipend for the first year of doctoral study.
Rhodes Scholarship
Three Ohio University students were selected to interview on the state level for the Rhodes Scholarship.
Mathew Hill is a senior with a triple major in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology (both Arts and Sciences) and Legal Communication. He plans to pursue a doctorate in synthetic organic chemistry in the United Kingdom.
Robert McDonie is an English major in the College of Arts and Sciences honors program and plans to pursue a graduate degree in English literature with a focus on critical theory.
Katherine Smith is a senior Honors Tutorial College student majoring in English with a minor in economics. She intends to go to law school and pursue a career in public interest law, specializing in women's issues, particularly welfare reform. She hopes to study social policy in the United Kingdom.
Rhodes Scholars are elected for two years of study at the University of Oxford in England, with the possibility of renewal for a third year. All educational and travel costs are paid on the scholar's behalf by the Rhodes Trustees. In addition each scholar receives a maintenance allowance for necessary expenses for term-time and vacations.
Katie Fitzgerald is a student writer with University Communications and Marketing.
