A Southwestern University senior who is passionate about broadening her horizons has received a grant from the Rotary Foundation that will enable her to study in London next year. 

Katherine Tanner, a political science and international studies major who is also minoring in German, will use the grant to study at Royal Holloway, which is part of the University of London. She has been accepted there to earn a master’s degree in geopolitics and security.

Tanner was sponsored for the Global Grant program (formerly known as the Ambassadorial Scholarship program) by the Rotary Club in her hometown of Fredericksburg. She was selected for the program from among applicants in a Rotary Club district that includes 44 counties in Central and South Texas.

The Global Grant program provides academic year scholarships for undergraduate, graduate and professional members to study abroad and support their commitment to “service above self” through sustainable international activities.

As part of the grant program, Tanner will speak to several Rotary Clubs around Central Texas before she goes to London, including a Rotary Club in Georgetown. In April, she spoke at a district Rotary conference that was held in San Angelo.

“I also hope to visit clubs throughout England, but I especially want to speak at schools to inspire younger minds to seek the world out and learn beyond their comfort zone,” she said.

Tanner’s international experience already includes a semester studying the European Union in Germany, a semester studying at Kadir Has University in Turkey, and a yearlong Rotary exchange program in Austria.

“I was inspired to live and study abroad at a very early age by my mother, who was both a Rotary Exchange student and a Fulbright Scholar to Germany,” Tanner said. “She taught me to appreciate other cultures, seek understanding, ask questions and try new things. I am who I am today because of her.”

Tanner was a member of Interact (Rotary International’s service club for young people ages 14 to 18) in high school and Rotaract (a Rotary-sponsored service club for young men and women ages 18 to 30) her first two years at Southwestern.

−      Devin Corbitt