Newswise — One recent graduate and two Olin alumni have earned a coveted Fulbright student scholarship to conduct research or teach abroad.
As the flagship international exchange initiative sponsored by the U.S. government, the Fulbright Program is designed to build relationships between Americans and people in more than 140 countries across the globe to collectively address global challenges and work toward world peace.
Jordyn Burger ’14 who is currently working at athenahealth in Watertown, MA won a full grant to study MSc Design for Interaction at TU Delft in the Netherlands.
Lauren Hafford ’07 won a full grant to conduct research in Odisha, India to study fecal contamination of groundwater. Hafford’s project encompasses testing wells in several rural villages, and if pollution is found, developing remediation plans.
Hafford said the Fulbright will allow her to build deep cultural connections and have the kind of meaningful conversations that will guide her future work. She is looking forward to this “deep dive” into rural Eastern India. “Development work is difficult to do well without bringing in my accidental cultural dominance, or letting my deeply rooted assumptions take me down the wrong path. My partner NGO and the community members will help guide me, to allow me to contribute to making basic services affordable and aspirational,” said Hafford.
And recent graduate Nagy Hakim ’17 won an assistantship to teach English at the National University of Colombia at Medellin. “I grew up speaking many different languages, and my Mom built her career as a foreign language teacher. I have been fortunate enough to witness the many opportunities that languages can provide,” said Hakim. “Combining my Olin engineering education with the gift of languages in a new country is a unique opportunity to make a difference in the lives of many other students.”
Director of Post-Graduate Planning Sally Phelps said, “We are thrilled that so many of our students and alumni are being recognized for their work with this distinguished international scholarship. To have the opportunity to spend time in another country is a life-changing experience for them.”
RSS