Contac t:
Name: Brian Dorrington
Phone: (414) 288-4179
Email: brian.dorrington@marquette.edu
Marquette University 2014 graduate wins prestigious Fulbright Award
MILWAUKEE – Somer Nowak, a 2014 graduate of Marquette University’s Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, has been selected for a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Brazil.
Nowak, who received a bachelor of arts in interdisciplinary international affairs degree this May, was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to supplement local English language instruction and to provide a native speaker presence in classrooms. She will work and live with the people of Brazil, directly interacting with students in the classroom. Nowak will represent the United States as a cultural ambassador while overseas, helping to enhance mutual understanding between Americans and Brazilians.
“We live in an increasingly complex global community, and there is no better way for our students to learn than to immerse themselves in unique environments throughout the world,” said Richard Holz, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We are proud that Somer will represent both Marquette University and the United States in what is widely recognized as the flagship international educational exchange program.”
From its inception in the mid-1940s, the Fulbright Program has fostered bilateral relationships in which citizens and governments of other countries work with the U.S. to set joint priorities and shape the program to meet shared needs. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program currently awards approximately 1,900 grants annually in all fields of study, and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide.
In addition to Nowak’s Fulbright Award, five additional students received international scholarships from various programs to study abroad. They are as follows:
· Caitlyn Bastable, a 2014 graduate who received her bachelor of science in nursing degree, was awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study in Peru this summer.
· Alexis Krueger, a 2014 graduate who received her bachelor of science in engineering degree, received a Whitaker International Fellowship to conduct academic research during the 2015-16 academic year in collaboration with a professor at the University of Genoa.
· Christian Villanueva, a senior in the College of Nursing, was awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study in Peru this summer.
· Alexis Sammarco, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, received a Boren Scholarship from the National Security Education Program and an award from the Critical Language Scholarship program. She will study at the Nizwa Arabic Institute in Oman this summer and at the University of Jordan this fall.
· Victoria Zidek, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the Alliance for Global Education scholarship and will study in India this fall.
