Six University of Scranton Graduates Earn Fulbright Scholarships

Jun 13, 2011

Six University of Scranton graduates will make the most of their individual talents and interests as they share with – and learn from – cultures across the world as Fulbright scholars.

In a banner year for an already strong tradition at Scranton, six graduates were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships for the 2011/2012 academic year –the U.S. government’s premier scholarship program for overseas graduate study, research, and teaching. They will travel to the United Arab Emirates, India, Germany, Malaysia and Canada. This year all six of The University of Scranton’s national finalists won scholarships from a pool of more than 9,000 applicants nationally.

For six consecutive years, The Chronicle of Higher Education has listed The University of Scranton among the “top producers” of Fulbright awards for American students. Since 1972, a total of 134 University of Scranton students have received grants in the competitions administered by the Institute of International Education.

“As Fulbright scholars, our graduates will focus on research and teaching projects ranging from studying the successful sustainable technology cluster of the world’s first carbon-neutral development in the desert outside Abu Dhabi to teaching English as a second language to middle schoolers in Delhi.” said Susan Trussler, Ph.D., Fulbright program advisor and associate professor of economics/finance at The University of Scranton. “But of equal importance, each of these six graduates will immerse themselves in the local communities and continue their remarkable records of service by volunteering as coaches, small business advisors, and moderators of student clubs in their respective host countries.”

Members of the University’s class of 2011 earning Fulbright scholarships are: Rebecca Bartley, Jamesburg, N.J., Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Malaysia; Melissa C. Beltz, Eagleville, Fulbright/Pädagogischer Austauschdienst English Teaching Assistantship to Germany; Kaitlyn L. Doremus, Tobyhanna, Fulbright/Pädagogischer Austauschdienst English Teaching Assistantship to Germany; Philip J. Kachmar, Kingston, Fulbright Scholarship to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada; and Aileen M. Monks, Bellmore, N.Y., who earned a bachelor’s degree in 2010 from Scranton and her master’s degree in 2011, Fulbright-Nehru English Teaching Assistantship to India. The sixth graduate is Gian Peter Vergnetti, Brooklyn, N.Y., a native of Scranton and member of the University’s class of 2008, who received a Fulbright to the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The scholarships were announced recently by the United States Department of the State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Additional information about each Fulbright recipient can be found by clicking on the graduate’s name above.

Fulbright Group

Six University of Scranton graduates earned Fulbright scholarships for 2011, bringing the total to 134 for University of Scranton students receiving grants in the competitions administered by the Institute of International Education (Fulbright) and International Rotary since 1972. Standing from left are: Susan Trussler, Ph.D., Fulbright program advisor at The University of Scranton, and Fulbright scholarship recipients Gian P. Vergnetti, Philip J. Kachmar, Aileen M. Monks, Rebecca Bartley, and Kaitlyn L. Doremus. Fulbright recipient Melissa C. Beltz was absent when the photo was taken.

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