Overseas work helps 19 students, alumni to win Fulbrights; Six win Fulbright-Hays

BY JIA-RUI CHONG

With self-designed projects ranging from an examination of elderly care in China to advanced piano studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, 19 graduating seniors, recent alumni and graduate students have been awarded 2002-03 Fulbright Scholarships for one academic year overseas. Six graduate students, who are conducting research on topics including the Trans-Arabian Pipeline's effect on social change in the Middle East and prewar Japanese fantastic literature, have won Fulbright-Hays Scholarships for doctoral research in non-Western area studies.

John Pearson, director of the Bechtel International Center, said it has been a good year for Stanford's Fulbright candidates.

"If you look at the statistics from the last few years, you'll see we've had a good rate of graduating seniors and recent graduates winning Fulbrights. I think it really has to do with the opportunities offered to undergraduates at Stanford to do interesting work overseas through the URO [Undergraduate Research Opportunities program] or honors thesis work. It whets their appetite for doing more concentrated work for a longer period of time," he said.

Pearson's office receives about 60 applications each year for the Fulbright Scholarships, which are administered by the Institute of International Education. Created by the U.S. Congress in 1946 for American students, these scholarships are intended to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges.

This year, 19 Stanford students were chosen for projects in 17 countries:

Seniors Santosh Anagol, India; Cheryl Andrada, Philippines; Shiao Chen, Hong Kong; Tarun Chhabra, Russia; Meagan Eagle, Mauritius; Yan Kvitko, Netherlands; Nathan Lasche, Mexico; Grant Lee, Korea; Sophia Liu, China; Maggie Montgomery, Tanzania; Nina Robertson, Bolivia; James Russell, Chile; Jeffrey Skopek, United Kingdom; recent graduates Katrina Abuabara, Mexico, and Michael Cummings, Iceland; and graduate students Malgorzata Fidelis, Poland; Amber Gove, Brazil; Daniel Rutherford, Japan; and Kathryn Syssoyeva, Russia.

Pearson added that Stanford's Fulbright-Hays applicants also have done remarkably well. "I've been here since '85 and I can only think of a few years in which we've had six winners," he said.

Pearson's office sees about eight to 15 applicants a year for these awards from the Department of Education for doctoral research abroad. Winners tend to be able to show a broader interest in the culture and politics of the country in which they wish to conduct dissertation research since the focus of the scholarship is area studies, he added.

This year's winners are Marcy Brink, Turkey; Julia Bullock, Japan; Amelia Glaser, Russia, Ukraine; Toby Jones, Jordan, Saudi Arabia; Miri Nakamura, Japan; and Robert Tierney, Japan.