Southwestern’s 2022 Distinguished Young Alumna Kadidiatou Magassa ’13 leveraged her SU education into Peace Corps volunteering in Senegal before landing the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship from the U.S. Department of State. Now her journey to diplomacy continues in Djibouti, East Africa, as a Foreign Service Officer. And she hopes other SU students will want to contribute positively to the world in similar ways.
Amiel Padayhag ’20, a Phi Beta Kappa anthropology and feminist studies graduate, has earned a 2023-2024 Fulbright U.S. Student Program award, joining the ranks of 20 previous Southwestern University graduates to do so. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the program promotes cross-cultural dialogue by funding graduates from U.S. universities to conduct independent research, enroll in graduate programs, or teach English in more than 140 countries around the world. Padayhag will conduct an independent anthropological research project in the Philippines.
Southwestern graduate will head to Brazil to further Ph.D. research.
Sierra Rupp ’23, SU political science senior, will participate in the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program to study Russian during summer 2023. Sierra is one of approximately 500 competitively selected American students at U.S. colleges and universities who received a CLS award in 2023.
Gerald Jones ’25, Mara Strohl ’25 and Jinx Wiener ’25 each recently earned $30,000 scholarships from The Sumners Foundation of Irving, Texas. Scholarships are awarded by the Foundation based on academic excellence, civic engagement, and a capacity for leadership.
Sam Anderson ’23 will be entering one of the nation’s top Doctor of Physical Therapy programs at Washington University in St. Louis this fall with support from the James Roberts Andrews Endowed Fellowship, established to honor James Robert Andrews ’04, in memory of his strength, courage, determination and intellectual curiosity.
Emma Astad ’21 will teach English in Galicia, Spain.
Catherine Hiebel ’22 and Melina Boutris ’22 will teach English in Spain and Austria, respectively.
Anthropology major Juan Mojica from Dallas is one of just seven students nationwide who earned this prestigious fellowship to “lead the change.” The fellowship experience will take place at Breakthrough Greater Boston.
Jake Hessinger ’22 will be entering law school this fall with support from the fellowship, established to honor James Roberts Andrews ’04.
Are you a graduating senior or recent grad (within two years of graduation) entering graduate school in Fall 2022? If so, please apply for this opportunity to earn $2,500 toward the cost of the first year of graduate/professional school study. Application deadline is March 20, 2022.
For more than six decades The Sumners Foundation has provided scholarships to outstanding students. Financial need is not a factor. Current sophomores can apply by April 19 for $30,000 scholarships, awarded for junior and senior years, and valuable professional development opportunities.
Psychology major Sierra Burton ’22 is the latest Southwestern Pirate to earn the nationally competitive Gilman Scholarship to support her upcoming study abroad.
Eugenia Agobe ’23 of Wimberley, John Guerrero ’23 of Kingsville, and Jack O’Neil ’23 of Irving each recently earned $30,000 scholarships from The Sumners Foundation of Irving, Texas. Scholarships are awarded by the Foundation based on academic excellence, civic engagement, and a capacity for leadership.
Transfer student and Sumners Scholar Emily Gilby ’21 shares her experiences working on political campaigns and as a legislative aide.
A political science and music double-major, Maureen Rendon of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo will use the award toward her graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School in Global Policy Studies.
Sumners Scholar Breely Peterson’s first job out of college? Working as a deputy press secretary for a congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Fulbright Scholar Brielle Read ’20 has been traveling the world and making a difference since the tender age of 14.
German and physics double major Claire Harding ’20 interned with NASA and will be teaching English in Germany as a Fulbright English teaching assistant.
Mattie Mint ’22 shares about her journey into the professional world through the Kemper Scholar Program.
While pursuing a BA in history at Southwestern, Kellogg took full advantage of the Sumners Scholarship and then leveraged those experiences to secure a place at the Texas A&M Bush School of Government for graduate study in national security and diplomacy, with concentrations in East Asia and pandemics and biosecurity.
Osterhaus, a Spanish and French major and German minor, earned an English Teaching Assistantship in Germany through the U.S. Student Fulbright Program. She currently works in marketing for a global trade association and does freelance translation work.
A financial economics major and president of SU’s Economics Club, Dixon spent Summer 2020 interning remotely with the Taproot Foundation’s Chicago office through the Kemper Scholars Program. The scholarship fosters professional development and leadership.
Claire Harding ’20 and Brielle Read ’20 have received 2020-2021 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for the English Teaching Assistant Program, and Sam Russek ’20 was named an Alternate.
Caldwell and Salunkhe are the most recent Southwestern students to secure this merit scholarship from the Sumners Foundation, which encourages “study, teaching, and research into the science and art of self-government, to the end that the American people may understand the fundamental principles of democracy and be guided thereby in shaping governmental policies.”
After graduation from Southwestern in 2017 with a BA in Spanish, Cryer embarked on a year in Posadas, Misiones, Argentina, as an English Teaching Assistant in the U.S. Student Fulbright Program.