Written by: Tiffany Westry
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From left: Remy Meir, Harrison Mansour, Sarah Faulkner, Charlotte Boles, Lillian Chien and Rachael ThompsonSix University of Alabama at Birmingham students have been named to an elite group that includes heads of state, CEOs and Nobel Prize winners. Fulbright United States Student Program grants have been awarded to Charlotte Boles, Lillian Chien, Sarah Faulkner, Harrison Mansour, Remy Meir and Rachael Thompson Panik by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
The students are among 1,900 selected in the United States who will teach English, conduct research or provide expertise abroad for the 2018-2019 academic year.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government, and is designed to build relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries who are needed to solve global challenges. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as a record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields.
“UAB is dedicated to innovation and the proliferation of knowledge, as well as improving our local community and global society,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. “These impressive students and their academic pursuits reflect that commitment, and we are proud to have them represent UAB around the world. Their experiences while studying, teaching and conducting research abroad will help prepare them for dynamic careers and leadership roles in their fields.”
Boles, a Prattville, Alabama, native, has been awarded the Fulbright Study/Research grant to pursue a master’s degree in public policy and human development with a concentration in social protection policy at Maastricht University in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Boles earned a bachelor’s degree from the UAB School of Public Health in 2017 and is an alumna of the UAB Honors College. She aspires to do work related to poverty prevention and alleviation through government policies and programs. Boles currently works as an AmeriCorps State/National Member with Impact America as a SpeakFirst high school debate coach. She spends the majority of her time working on debate cases and debate tournament preparation with 22 Birmingham and Pelham City Schools students.
Chien, a Reno, Nevada, native, has been awarded the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program grant to Taiwan. Chien is 2018 alumna of the UAB College of Arts and Sciences and the UAB Honors College University Honors Program, earning bachelor’s degrees in neuroscience and international studies. While abroad, she will teach in a rural elementary or middle school. Chien aspires to become a physician and practice medicine in areas with heavy populations of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants.
Faulker, a Birmingham, Alabama, native, has been awarded the Fulbright Study/Research grant to conduct research on Buddhist art and the Lepcha language in Sikkim, India. Faulkner earned bachelor’s degrees in art with a concentration in art history and in sociology with concentration social psychology from the UAB College of Arts and Sciences in 2017. Her goal is to eventually earn a doctoral degree and teach Asian art history at the college level.
Mansour, a Cullman, Alabama, native, has been awarded Fulbright Study/Research grant to pursue a master’s degree in computational engineering at Lappeenranta University of Technology in Lappeenranta, Finland. He is a 2018 alumnus of the UAB College of Arts and Sciences, earning bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and computer science. His interest in how education reform can be accelerated with the use of modern technology, such as artificial intelligence, is what led him to study in Finland, a country that is lauded for having one of the best education systems in the world. Mansour is also an alumnus of the UAB Honors College.
Meir, an Auburn, Alabama native, has been awarded the Fulbright Study/Research grant to conduct research at the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. Her research project will focus on stress as a potential risk factor for addiction in a human population. Meir graduated from UAB this spring with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience with minors’ public health, chemistry, and mathematics. Meir is an alumna of the UAB Honors College.
Thompson Panik, a Fort Payne, Alabama, native, has been selected to receive the Fulbright Study/Research grant to study in the United Kingdom. Thompson Panik earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the UAB School of Engineering and a minor in Japanese in 2016. She is an alumna of the UAB Honors College.
Rebecca Massey, a Birmingham native, was selected as an alternate for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program grant to Ecuador. Massey graduated from UAB this spring with a bachelor's degree in anthropology. She is an alumna of the UAB Honors College Science and Technology Honors Program. Meredith Schertzinger, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was selected as an alternate for the Fulbright Study/Research grant to the United Kingdom. Schertzinger is an alumna of the UAB Honors College.
The UAB Office of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships assists students in preparing competitive applications for prestigious awards such as the Fulbright Scholar Program, Rhodes, Goldwater and Truman Scholarships, National Science Foundation research fellowships and many more. Contact fellowships@uab.edu for more information.