Whitman students and alumni win fellowships and grants in 19 programs
Whitman College undergraduates and alumni in 2009-10 are recipients of the widest range of major fellowships, scholarships and grants of any year in the school’s history.
Whitman students and graduates so far this year have earned awards in 19 fellowship, scholarship and grant programs.
The awards count includes two Watson fellowships, three Fulbright awards, a Scoville fellowship, a Pickering Undergraduate fellowship, three Princeton in Asia (PIA) fellowships, two National Science Foundation fellowships, two U.S. State Department Critical Language scholarships and a Humanity in Action (HIA) fellowship.
Whitman students also have received a Killam scholarship, Princeton in Latin America (PILA) fellowship, DMI Scholars award and Roosevelt Institute fellowship. It was the college’s first participation in each of the four award competitions. Another Whitman finalist awaits word that would make her the school’s fourth PIA fellowship recipient in 2009-10.
Whitman this year also participated for the first time in the distinguished Luce Scholars Program. Thomas Miller ’07 was a finalist in the national competition. At the same time, Miller received a PIA fellowship that will take him to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he will work as a reporter for the Phnom Penh Post.
“Two of our primary goals this year were to expand the range of awards on our students’ radar and to work with more alumni,” said Keith Raether, director of fellowships and grants. “If we’ve succeeded, it’s because of the enterprise of our undergraduates and the abiding relationship Whitman enjoys with its graduates. I’m very fortunate to be able to work with and learn from so many talented, directed students. I’m amazed by their resolve in the face of the stiffest competition in the history of most of these awards.”
Nadim Damluji ’10 and Seth Bergeson ’10 are Whitman’s Watson Fellowship recipients this year. Damluji, a politics major, will travel and study in Belgium, France, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and China over the course of the yearlong fellowship. Bergeson, a history major, will spend time in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Rwanda, India and China.
Politics major Nate Cohn ’10 is one of four recipients of a Scoville Peace Fellowship from a pool of 260 applicants. He will be a full-time junior staff member at either the Federation of American Scientists or the Arms Control Association in Washington, D.C. Navdeep Aujla ’11, a politics major, received a Pickering Undergraduate Foreign AffairsFellowship that includes up $50,000 for each of the next two years of school as well as two summer internships.
Of Whitman’s Fulbright recipients, Dan Will ’10, a German major, will teach English in Germany, and Jens-Erik Lund Snee ’09 will carry out a research project in New Zealand. Jane Lutken ’10, a double major in English and French, was awarded an English teaching assistantship in France through the Fulbright-affiliated French Ministry of Education. Cristine Tennant '10 also received a French ETA in Bordeaux. Abby Lynch ’07 was a finalist for a Fulbright research project in theater in Germany.
Two other PIA fellows, Nicole West ’10, a biology major, and Anna Bacheller ’09, will be stationed in Nan, Thailand, to teach English in K-6 schools. At press deadline, Ashma Basnyat ’10, a politics major, was one of two finalists for a PIA placement with a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Cambodia.
Caitlin Schoenfelder ’09 is Whitman’s first recipient of a PILA fellowship. Schoenfelder will work as a tutor for the NGO Convivencia Educativa in Puebla, Mexico.
HIA recipient and politics major Annie Roberts ’10 will participate in the international education organization’s Denmark (Copenhagen) program. Critical Language Scholarship recipient Jaspreet Gill ’11, a history major, will study Punjabi in India. Fellow recipient Carli Ing ’11, an Asian Studies major, will study Japanese in Japan.
Thomas Friedenbach ’12, a history major and Whitman’s first Killam fellow, will spend the second term of his junior year studying at one of three schools: University of British Columbia, University of Toronto or University of Alberta. A German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Summer Course Grant will take Katie Davies ’10, a philosophy major, to Berlin this summer for intensive language study.
Alice MacLean ’11, a politics major, won a Davis Projects for Peace Award. Her project, “Wage-Claim Rights and Resources for Migrant Workers In Rural Washington State,” will be carried out in Yakima and the Tri-Cities.
Politics major Zach Duffy ’12 is a recipient of two public policy fellowships: DMI and Roosevelt. He will divide his time this summer between the two opportunities, the latter of which includes a 10-week internship with the AFL-CIO.
Below is the most current list of Whitman fellowship, scholarship and grant recipients for the 2009-10 academic year. Results from several other fellowship competitions are yet to be announced. (This list will be updated as more results become available.)
Fellowships, Scholarships and Grants (information as of May 14, 2010)
Watson Fellowship
Nadim Damluji ’10 (independent travel and study in Belgium, France, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, China)
Seth Bergeson ’10 (independent travel and study in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Rwanda, India, and China)
Fulbright U.S. Student Program
Dan Will ’10 (English teaching assistantship, Germany)
Jens-Erik Lund Snee ’09 (research grant, New Zealand)
Jane Lutken ’10 (English teaching assistantship, France, through French Ministry of Education)
Abby Lynch ’07 (finalist, research grant, Germany)
Scoville Peace Fellowship
Nate Cohn ’10 (junior staff member at the Federation of American Scientists or Arms Control Association in Washington, D.C.)
Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship
Navdeep Aujla ’11 (financial support for undergraduate and graduate study; two internships)
Princeton in Asia Fellowship
Nicole West ’10 (English teaching, K-6 school, Nan, Thailand)
Thomas Miller ’07 (reporter for the Phnom Penh Post, Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
Anna Bacheller ’09 (English teaching, K-6 school, Nan, Thailand)
Ashma Basnyat ’10 (finalist, awaiting word)
Princeton in Latin America Fellowship
Caitlin Schoenfelder ’09 (tutor for nongovernmental organization Convivencia Educativa, Puebla, Mexico)
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Tamara Carley ’08 (Ph.D. study in petrology, Vanderbilt University)
Bridget Kustin ’05 (Ph.D. study in cultural anthropology, Johns Hopkins University)
Luce Scholars Program
Thomas Miller ’07 (finalist)
Humanity in Action Fellowship
Annie Roberts ’10 (Denmark program)
French Ministry of Education
Cristine Tennant ’10 (English teaching assistantship, France)
Killam Scholarship
Thomas Friedenbach ’12 (six-month study, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia or University of Alberta)
Critical Language Scholarship (U.S. Department of State)
Jaspreet Gill ’11 (study of Punjabi, India)
Carli Ing ’11 (study of Japanese, Japan)
Davis Projects for Peace
Alice MacLean ’11 (project: Wage-Claim Rights and Resources for Migrant Workers in Rural Washington State)
Jeremy Norden ’11 and Chris Hansman ’11 (alternates)
Udall Scholarship
Ari Frink ’11 (honorable mention)
Emerson National Hunger Fellowship
Jessica Salvador ’07 (finalist)
DAAD University Summer Course Grant
Katie Davies ’10 (summer language study, Berlin)
Center for Whole Communities Fellowship
Camila Thorndike ’10 (summer forum for leaders in environmental and social justice
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF/NIST)
Nathan Mallon ’11 (declined award)
DMI Scholars Program
Zach Duffy ’12 (summer institute in public policy, New York)
Roosevelt Institute Fellowship
Zach Duffy ’12 (summer academy combining full-time placement with AFL-CIO and integrated program of leadership development, Washington, D.C.)
Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme
Nate Conroy ’10
Chuckie Harris ’10
Bridget Snow ’10
Jennifer Doane ’09
Kathleen Weaver ’10 (declined award)
David Abramovitz ’10 (wait list)
Related Awards 2009-10
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
Nathan Abrams ’13 (physics lab assistant, University of Idaho)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Exceptional Research Opportunities Program
Sofia Infante '12 (University of California San Diego Medical Center)
HHMI Student Summer Research Program
Tom Austin ’11 (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle; HHMI national selection process)
Brian Wakefield ’11 (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Whitman internal selection process)
Daniel Hart ’11 (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Whitman internal selection process)
Infectious Disease Research Institute
Allison Ikeda ’11 (Whitman internal selection process)
Emily Nickels ’11 (Whitman internal selection process)