Recent Award Winners
Boren Scholarship: Emily Jirles
Sophomore Berry Scholar Emily Jirles has been awarded a David L. Boren Scholarship for the 2011-12 academic year. Emily is only the second University of Dayton student to receive this prestigious national award, one which provides up to $20,000 to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Emily will attend the Beijing Center at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China and pursue a program of study that offers Intensive Chinese language classes as well course work in Asian history, politics and culture. Emily will also have the chance to travel beyond Beijing to the provinces of Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, and others. Last year 138 Boren Scholarships were awarded nationally, a number drawn from only 83 colleges and universities across the country.
Fulbright Teaching Assistantship: Christopher Lemon
2011 Berry Scholar graduate Christopher Lemon was awarded one of 10 national Fulbright assistantships for teaching English in Mexico at a university or teacher training college. His program will run from September 2011 to May 2012, including an orientation co-sponsored by the Fulbright Commission and the Mexican Ministry of Education. Teaching assistant responsibilities occupy up to 18 hours per week, giving Lemon ample time to engage in other activities related to his educational or professional interests.
Fulbright Teaching Assistantship: Clare Hubbard
2011 graduate Clare Hubbard was awarded one of 90 national Fulbright assistantships for teaching English in South Korea. The Fulbright Program begins with a 6-week orientation featuring intensive Korean language study, ESL techniques and Korean cultural issues, and which will lead to a year-long placement at a Korean elementary school.
Udall Scholarship: AJ Ferguson
AJ Ferguson, a junior Berry Scholar major in Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded a 2011 Udall Foundation Scholarship. A 14-member independent review committee selected this year's group of 80 Scholars on the basis of three factors: a commitment to careers in the environment, health care or tribal public policy; leadership potential; and academic achievement.
Each scholarship provides up to $5,000 for the Scholar's junior or senior year. AJ is the first University of Dayton student to be selected for the award.
Rotary Scholarship: Zachary Sideras
The Rotary Club of Dayton has announced that UD junior Zachary Sideras is the district nominee for the 2011-2012 Ambassadorial Scholarship. Zac is a junior Honors student majoring in International Studies and History. As a Rotary Scholar, Zac plans to continue his education in a Master's program in a Middle Eastern-related field. The Ambassadorial Scholarship provides up to $26,000 for one academic year of study abroad.
Ambassadorial scholars identify five academic institutions they would like to attend, and make applications to those institutions. Rotary International has the final decision about which institution students attend. Zac has selected institutions in the United Kingdom, Lebanon, and Canada, all with particularly strong programs in Middle Eastern studies.
French Ministry of Education Teaching Assistantship: Meghan McDevitt
A Fulbright finalist, Meghan McDevitt was one of 50 individuals selected nationwide for a highly-competitive French Government teaching assistantship. The award will place her in either a primary or secondary school for approximately 12 hours per week. Meghan will receive health insurance and a monthly stipend over a period of seven to nine months. She will be placed in the Academie de Nantes in Western France.
Meghan is a senior from Columbus, Ohio, double-majoring in English and French. She is also the editor of Orpheus, UD's student-run literary and arts magazine.
Goldwater Scholarship: Julia Faeth
Julia Faeth, a junior Honors student majoring in Chemical Engineering, has been awarded a 2010-2011 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.
The Goldwater Foundation is a federally-endowed agency established in 1986 in honor of U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater. The Scholarship was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. It is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.
This year only 278 Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from students nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide. The one- and two-year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.
Goldwater Scholars have impressive academic qualifications that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 73 Rhodes Scholarships, 105 Marshall Awards, 90 Churchill Scholarships (9 of the 14 awarded in the United States in 2010), and numerous other distinguished fellowships.
The overwhelming majority of Goldwater recipients this year are enrolled in Research I institutions, and the only other Catholic institutions represented this year besides UD are Notre Dame, Georgetown, Gonzaga, University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) and the University of Scranton.
Julia is currently conducting research under Dr. Sukhjinder Sidhu with the Sustainable Environmental Technologies Group at UDRI. While working with algae and carbon sequestration, she hopes to determine which method of lipid analysis provides the most accurate prediction of the usable oil content of various algae species.
Distinguished Research Award: Beth Ann Saracco
Beth Ann Saracco, a UD Honors Program alumna and Palermo Fund recipient, has been named one of three winners of this year's national Forum on Education Abroad's Undergraduate Research Award.
The selection committee was composed of an interdisciplinary group of faculty from diverse institutions.
Beth Ann worked closely with UD faculty, The Center for International Programs, The Center for Social Concern, and the Honors Program on a project entitled "¡Justicia Ahora! The Movement for Justice in Chile and Guatemala."
The Forum on Education Abroad has invited Beth Ann to present a summary of her research at a lunch plenary session at the Forum Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, in March 2010. This session is attended by over 500 international education professionals and is a highlight of the Forum on Education Abroad Conference.