Wesleyan Named Fulbright Top Producer for Sixth Year

For the sixth year in a row, Wesleyan has been recognized as one of the colleges and universities with the highest number of students selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges.

Fulbright Top Producing Institutions value global connection and support members of their campus communities across the United States to pursue international opportunities.

“Wesleyan maintains its long-standing commitment to support students applying for these prestigious grants, which provide invaluable cultural exchange opportunities,” said President Michael Roth ’78. “The Fulbright Program allows our scholars to pursue their interests, share what they learn, and bring their practical idealism beyond our borders.”

Seven applicants were awarded Fulbright grants for academic year 2024-25. The six who accepted their award will spend the year conducting independent research or serving as assistant teachers of English, each of them located in a different country. (More details about them were published in a story last fall):

• Melanie Cham ’24, who majored in Earth and Environmental Science and Archaeology, is researching geology in India
• Eliot Kimball ’24, a Film and Spanish double major, is an English teaching assistant in Argentina
• Sophie Mann-Shafir ’22, majored in History, is conducting research in Italy
• Daisy Montoya ’24, double majored in Psychology and Education Studies, and is an English teaching assistant in Mexico
• Simon Worth ’24, who majored in the College of Letters, is an English teaching assistant in Madagascar
• Joanna Paul ’18, majored in Psychology and Sociology, with a minor in German studies, is an English teaching assistant in Germany

Erica Kowsz, associate director for fellowships at the Fries Center for Global Studies, supports and advises applicants. “One thing that’s extra special about this group is that among our six Fulbrighters, we have Wesleyans in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, five of the six continents that participate in Fulbright. Some of our current grantees dedicated years to studying local languages spoken in their host country, others have heritage connections they will build on, and still others are travelling to their host country for the first time ever during their Fulbright year. Despite these differences, each of them was successful in conveying to the selection committees why they want to take on their specific Fulbright plans and how they will contribute to Fulbright’s mission of cultivating cross-cultural dialogue and connection,” she said.

Wesleyan faculty and staff also receive Fulbright awards. Associate Professor of Psychology Andrea Negrete is on a Fulbright US Scholar fellowship this year at the University of Guanajuato in Mexico. Emily Gorlewski, director of Study Abroad, has secured a Fulbright International Education Administrator Award. She will participate this spring in an intensive two-week seminar in Taiwan to learn about their higher education system, building Wesleyan’s capacity for study abroad and research opportunities in the region.

The Office of Fellowships is currently organizing events for students interested in applying for the Fulbright US Student Program when the new cycle opens on March 31, 2025 or at any point in the future. Students can register to join our online event with staff and alumni ambassadors from the Fulbright US Student Program happening on Thursday April 3 at 6pm Eastern or email fellowships@wesleyan.edu to express their interest in applying.