USC among top producers of 2016-17 Fulbright students, scholars

USC has been named one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright students and scholars for 2016-17, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced this week.

The university is among just 16 institutions in the U.S. to be listed as producing the most students and scholars receiving Fulbright recognition. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The eight Fulbright scholars chosen from among USC faculty place the university among the top five institutions, and it’s the only major research university in California to make the list. For Fulbright students, the 13 Trojans place USC in the top 25.

As the flagship international fellowship program of the United States, the Fulbright Student Grant supports one year of independent study, research and teaching in one of over 125 countries around the world.

More than 1,100 U.S. college and university faculty and administrators, professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers and independent scholars are awarded Fulbright grants to teach and/or conduct research annually.

Fulbright students

USC’s 13 2016-17 Fulbright students:

Sean Allgood graduated with a Bachelor of Science in computational neuroscience. He is the recipient of a Fulbright research grant to Spain to conduct Alzheimer’s research in collaboration with the Cajal Institute in Madrid.

Jillian Barndt is a PhD student in history. Her Fulbright research project takes her to Japan, where she will examine the education system of the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) periods, reconstructing learning undertaken by both courtiers and warriors.

Margarette “Maggie” Deagon graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in both social sciences (psychology) and Spanish with a minor in Korean studies. Deagon accepted a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship assignment in South Korea.

Constance “Connie” Ge graduated from USC in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and a minor in American studies and ethnicity. Ge will teach English with the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship program in Indonesia.

Helen Anne Kennedy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations (global business). Kennedy accepted a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Laos.

Robin Liu graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations (global business) and a minor in German studies. Liu won a Fulbright grant to Germany to research on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Julia Loup graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in communication design. She is the first USC student to win the Fulbright Combined Grant to Austria, to conduct research and also teach English.

Marie McCoy-Thompson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in narrative studies, with minors in both French and marketing. McCoy-Thompson is the recipient of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Thailand.

Dominique Murdock graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Murdock accepted a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship assignment in Taiwan this summer.

Hai-Vu Phan is a PhD candidate in political science and international relations. As a recipient of the Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship, she will be placed with Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Energía y Minería, which is in charge of all national investments in energy and mining projects in Peru.

Martha Ryan graduated with a Bachelor of Science in global health. Ryan is the recipient of a Fulbright research grant to investigate how anti-stigma interventions can be adapted to culturally diverse red-light areas in India.

Meredith Shaw is a PhD candidate in political science and international relations. Shaw will spend a year in Seoul, South Korea, conducting interviews and archival research that will contribute to her doctoral dissertation. Her project investigates the role of state-imposed cultural change on popular attitudes and regime stability in both colonial Korea under the Japanese and in the post-1948 divided Korea.

Lilly Taing graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in health and humanity, with minors in international health, development and social change and health care studies. Taing won a Fulbright research grant to Sweden to explore the effects of estrogen on the neurobiological regulation of food reward behavior in order to better understand obesity.

Fulbright scholars

The university’s eight 2016-17 Fulbright scholars, along with their area of specialty and the institution they are visiting:

Lois Banner, history, Uppsala University, Sweden.

Kiros Berhane, statistics, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

Sanjay Bhatt, emergency medicine, Smt. NHL Municipal Medical College, Ahmedabad, India.

Nils de Mol van Otterloo, mental and social health services, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, India.

Miloni Gandhi, international education, the Japan-United States Educational Commission, Tokyo.

Urbashi Mitra, electrical engineering, King’s College, London.

Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, sociology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.

James Steele, architecture, Univesity of Malaya, Malaysia.

About the Fulbright Program

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 370,000 participants — chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S Congress to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also give direct and indirect support.

In the United States, the Institute of International Education’s Council for International Exchange of Scholars administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program on behalf of the Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships. The Fulbright Program also awards grants to U.S. students and teachers to conduct research and teach overseas. In addition, some 4,000 new foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study for graduate degrees, conduct research and teach foreign languages.