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Brown University Leads the Nation in Undergraduate Fulbright Recipients and is the 3rd Top-Producing Research School Overall

November 3, 2012
Some of Brown's 2012 Fulbright winners.

Some of Brown's Fulbright winners. Left to right, row 1:  Nick Nonias '12, Sarah Denaci '12, Galia Deitz '12, Norin Ansari '12; row 2: Manvir Singh '12, Mica Fidler '12, Marielle Heupler '12, Guillaume Riesen, '12, Harmony Lu '12; row 3:  Janine Khraishah '12, Jeremy Cutting '12, Maxwell Rosero '12, and Rachel Baker '12.

In the Chronicle of Higher Education’s recently published report on the Fulbright program’s statistics from the 2011-12 competition, Brown University ranks 3rd among top-producing research schools with 29 Fulbright awards.  The University of Michigan is first with 40 awards followed by Harvard with 31.  Brown claims first place, however, in the number of undergraduate and recent alumni winners with 27 to Michigan’s 23 and Harvard’s 17.  Also impressive is that among the 17 schools that won at least 15 Fulbrights this year, Brown has the second-highest ratio of winners to applicants at 34% - only Arizona State's 39% is higher.  This result is a testament to the creativity and vision of Brown’s undergraduates and the curriculum that supports them.  Brown’s Fulbright program has enjoyed robust success for the past 7 years routinely placing in the top three of research institutions with undergraduate winners leading the charge. 

The 29 Brown winners include 24 from the class of 2012, 2 from the class of 2011, and two graduate students. Collectively, they have or will soon be beginning their grant years in 22 different countries including Senegal, Brazil, Spain, Macau, and Bangladesh.  15 graduating seniors and recent alumni won English Teaching Assistantship awards and will be teaching English in a variety of countries and settings ranging from elementary schools in rural villages in South Korea to adult training centers in cities in Argentina.  14 Brown student winners received research grants to pursue course work and/or independent research projects on diverse subjects including the environmental impact of tea farming in Taiwan, the conflict and cooperation patterns among social insects in lab research at the Center of Social Evolution in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the political influence of the Palestinian population in Chile.  Brown's  winners come from several departments across the campus including Biology, International Relations, and Literary Studies. 

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The U.S. Student Fulbright supports recent college graduates and graduate students to conduct research, pursue graduate study, and/or teach abroad.  Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Brown's 2012 Fulbright Scholars

  • Daniel Alexander '12, ETA, Spain
  • Areebah Ajani '12, ETA, Tajikistan
  • Norin Ansari '12, ETA, Bangladesh
  • Alysha Aziz '12, Public Health, South Africa
  • Rachel Baker '12, ETA, Colombia
  • Alejandro Brambila '12, Ecology, Chile
  • Gillian Brassil '12, ETA Spain
  • Nathaniel Chu '12, Biology, Panama
  • Kaley Curtis '12, ETA, Korea
  • Jeremy Cutting '12, ETA, Argentina
  • Galia Deitz '12, Biology, Israel
  • Sarah Denaci '12, Creative Writing, Argentina
  • Andrea Dillon '12, International Relations, Chile
  • Nick Donias '12, ETA, Brazil
  • Mica Fidler, ETA '12, South Africa
  • Juliana Friend '11, Anthropology, Senegal
  • Eric Gruebel '12, ETA, Turkey
  • Hector Hernandez '12, ETA, Spain
  • Mariel Heupler '12, ETA, Argentina
  • Peter Klein, 4th year Ph.D., Sociology, Brazil
  • Leland Lazarus '12, ETA, Panama
  • Harmony Lu '12, Ecology, Taiwan
  • Thirii Myint '11, ETA, Spain
  • Sarah E. Newman, 3rd year Ph.D., Anthropology, Guatemala
  • Madisen Obiedo '12, ETA, Mexico
  • Titilola Ogunsola '12, Public Health, Dominican Republic
  • Guillaume Riesen '12,Biology, Switzerland
  • Manvir Singh '12, Biology, Denmark
  • Robert Webber '12, ETA, Indonesia