UofL grads win prestigious awards, including seven Fulbrights

Across the globe, classrooms will soon be buzzing with a new kind of Cardinal spirit. Seven UofL students were named Fulbright scholars for 2024.

The UofL Fulbright winners were awarded grants to teach English abroad in Turkey, Thailand, Moldova, Spain, Jordan, Taiwan and Germany.

The Fulbright Program, administered by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.

Since 2001, UofL has been a Fulbright powerhouse, producing 175 scholars (the most in Kentucky) and earning national recognition seven times.

Those receiving U.S. Student Fulbright Awards are:

• Medina Aslan '24, College of Arts and Sciences, of Krymsk, Russia, to Turkey.
• Julia Barclay '22, '24, of Union, Ky., to Thailand.
• Beverly Granger '18, '24, College of Arts and Sciences, of Louisville, Ky., to Moldova.
• Olivia Hanke '24, of Louisville, Ky., to Spain.
• Anna Hylen '23, College of Business, of Wilmore, Ky., to Jordan.
• Kaitlyn Purcell '24, School of Music, of Georgetown, Ky., to Taiwan.
• Abigail Stanger '24, College of Arts and Sciences, of Gilbertsville, to Germany.

In addition to the teaching assistantships, sophomores Alexandria Ipock-Groves, College of Arts and Sciences, of Madisonville, Ky., and Saadhavi Maskey, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, of Lexington, Ky., were selected as recipients of the Fulbright US-UK Summer Institute Award. Participants experience an academic program at a United Kingdom university and explore the culture, heritage and history of the UK.

Other prestigious scholars

Three UofL students were awarded Boren Scholarships. The Boren Awards provide students in all fields of study with funding for immersive study abroad in languages and regions of interest to U.S. national security.

Awardees include the following graduate students:

• Yelena Bagdasaryan, School of Public Health & Information Sciences, will study Czech in the Czech Republic
• Alexis Daniel, College of Arts and Sciences, will study Portuguese in Brazil; and
• Mikaella Tanales, College of Arts and Sciences, will study Mandarin in Taiwan

Four students were awarded the Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State. The CLS program provides opportunities for overseas language and cultural immersion in critical languages that are essential to the United States’ engagement with the world.

CLS recipients are:

• Kamal Amirneni, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, of Aldie, Va.
• Ryan Apperson '24, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Business
• Laura Hanna, senior, College of Arts and Sciences
• Rehan Kahloon, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, of Louisville, Ky.

Other students also earned unique honors and opportunities.

Forest Clevenger '22, College of Arts and Sciences, of Louisville, Ky., was awarded the Mary Churchill Humphrey Scholarship.

Eden Baize, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, was selected as the recipient of the 2024 English-Speaking Union KY Branch Summer Scholarship. This scholarship promotes the advancement of knowledge in an expanding global community.

Edler Jonhatan, senior, was awarded the Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Jr. Summer Institute fellowship, an academic preparation program for undergraduate juniors committed to public service careers.

And, two students received scholarships the university had never been awarded before.

Shraddha Patel '24, College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the FAO Schwarz Fellowship. The selective fellowship provides an intensive two-year experience where participants hone their leadership development and professional skills to pursue careers in social impact.

Afi Tagnedji '23, was selected for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program which brings together graduate students from various disciplines across Stanford University.

More on these scholars and winners of other prestigious academic scholarships can be found at louisville.edu/scholars.