February 27, 2015
UW named a Fulbright ‘top producing’ institution: spotlight on undergrads
The University of Washington is one of 12 institutions to make the “top producers” list of both Fulbright scholars and students for 2014-15, according the Chronicle of Higher Education, marking the fifth year out of six the UW has been recognized for the achievement.
The Fulbright Program, operated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.
Seven scholars and 13 students from the UW were awarded Fulbright grants for 2014-15, with the University tied for 17th on the students list and landing fourth on the scholars list.
Candidates recommended for Fulbright grants have high academic achievement, a compelling project proposal or statement of purpose, flexibility to interact successfully with a host community and demonstrated leadership potential. The following UW undergraduate alumni are among those who have each developed their own unique expression of these criteria and are currently abroad with the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
Julia Evans
Julia Evans has a strong affinity for South America and keeps going back. After spending two summers teaching English to impoverished children in Peru, she returned in 2013 for a three-month study abroad program in Quito, Ecuador. Those experiences informed her studies: she was a Spanish and romance linguistics double major at UW and graduated Cum Laude in March 2014.
For her senior capstone project, she researched articulatory phonetic training (APT), a technique for language instruction that helps students achieve native-like English pronunciation. Living in Bogota, Columbia for her Fulbright year as an English teaching assistant, Julia practices APT with students and hopes to use the experience as a springboard for her graduate school thesis to continue her research on this technique.
Hani Mahmoud
Though he enjoys researching a breadth of subjects from surgical robots to the protein mechanics responsible for strokes and heart attacks, Hani Mahmoud, a 2014 graduate of bioengineering, realized that he wants to work with people, not only in research labs. Through his collaborations with local institutions like PATH, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Gates Foundation, he worked with different professional teams on various projects, but also made a point to seek out educational roles as a mentor for the UW Dream Project and a student-athlete tutor.
In Kuwait for his Fulbright year, Mahmoud combines his medical training with his love for serving others at the Dasman Diabetes Institute (DDI). There, he works with experts to develop lifestyle-based solutions to prevent diabetes and improve Kuwaiti health and also conducts educational outreach to schools and health centers. After his Fulbright year, Mahmoud intends to pursue an MD/Ph.D.
Philmon Haile
Born in Sudan to Eritrean parents, Philmon Haile arrived as a refugee in Seattle from the Eritrean Civil War with his parents at age three. Participation in OneWorld Now! (OWN), a global research program for underserved high school students, sparked Haile’s curiosity to study other languages.
He received an OWN study abroad scholarship to Anshan, China for an academic year where he attended a local high school and studied Mandarin Chinese. While at the UW he earned a U.S. State Department internship working at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing with Ambassador Gary Locke. In addition, he began studying Arabic and traveled to Jordan, where he began formulating his Fulbright research project, where he serves today. Today he speaks Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Tigrinya and English, and looks forward to a career in the State Department Foreign Service.
University of Washington students, like those above, are supported by the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards (OMSFA). OMSFA works with faculty, staff and student groups to identify and help promising students develop the skills and personal insights necessary to become strong candidates for local and national scholarships that help them expand their academic experience and follow their passions.
More information:
- See the full list of 2014-15 UW undergraduate Fulbright students here.
- Learn about the UW’s recognition as a “top producer” of Fulbright scholars and students.