February 2, 2016

Five Drexel students and recent alumni have been selected as semifinalists for the prestigious Fulbright US Student Program for 2016-17. These students spent lots of time developing research proposals, crafting application essays, and incorporating feedback from supportive readers. We are very happy for them.

After being chosen by Fulbright US National Screening Committees, their applications have been passed to the host countries for final selection. They will hear in the coming months whether they receive the award. We wish them the best of luck!

**Fulbright host countries announce selections between February - May. Be sure to check our website for Fulbright Updates and news!**

2016 Fulbright Semi-Finalists

Julianna Frangos (BA International Area Studies ’16) is completing her bachelor’s in International Area Studies, with minors in German and French. She has considerable experience learning and teaching foreign languages, and has gained valuable experience in inter-cultural communication by studying and working in Germany, Brussels, and France. Although Julianna has long been passionate about languages, she was inspired to become a language teacher only recently, following experiences as a tutor and teaching a local day camp. She hopes to combine her interests and gain critical classroom experience teaching young adults, while engaging with the local community and learning more about the people and culture as an ETA in Luxembourg. Julianna thanks her faculty mentor, Travis Harman.

Tim Gorichanaz is a PhD student in information studies. In his research, Tim explores the human experience of using information, much of which is mediated through language and technology. Tim hopes to unite these research interests with his lifelong fascination of the complicated relationship between language and personal identity as a Fulbright grantee to the EU. He has proposed to study how bilingual speakers of European minority languages experience language-as-information in everyday life, spending a total of nine months in the Basque Country (Spain) and Wales (UK). While abroad, Tim plans to study Basque and Welsh as well as participate in a number of ultramarathons. Tim is grateful to his advisor Dr. Deborah Turner, who originally got him interested in applying for a Fulbright, as well as all those who provided feedback, advice and support throughout the application process, particularly Drs. Phillip Ayoub, Kara Spiller and Meredith Wooten.

Sarah Kushner (BS Computer Science ’16) is a senior computer science major with a minor in digital media. With an equal love for art and science, Sarah had a hard time choosing a major when she first came to Drexel. Sarah says she “wanted to find some way to combine all my interests into a magical topic.” The STAR program here at Drexel introduced Sarah to research, which she knew was the direction to go.  After switching majors from Animation and Visual Effects to Computer Science, Sarah found that Computer Graphics – the technology behind creating visual images – was the perfect fit. Sarah hopes to pursue a Master's degree in Grenoble, France next year and complete a research project making software to ease the animation process.

Matthew Parsons (BS Physics ’15, Honors) recently completed his B.S. in Physics at Drexel, and is now a computational physics programmer at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. His current research looks at how to apply machine learning methods to monitor the stability of magnetically confined fusion plasmas, with the intention of developing computational tools that can be used for the ITER experiment. Matthew's dream is to help the ITER project to be successful in demonstrating to the world that nuclear fusion is a feasible source of clean energy. When he isn't working on ways to save the environment, he loves spending time experiencing the outdoors. Matthew hopes to begin working on the ITER project this fall on a Study/Research grant to France.

Audrey Ryan (BS Architectural Engineering ’15; MS Civil Engineering ’15, Honors) developed an interest in biologically inspired engineering solutions through an interdisciplinary graduate course on BioDesign during her junior year. As the 2015 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Foundation Structural Engineering Fellow, she pursued a greater understanding of the subject though a research project focusing on bioinspired buildings around the world, an endeavor spanning five months and fifteen countries. She hopes to apply her knowledge of biomimetic systems and work experience in energy management to the advancement of renewable energy integration strategies with a Study/Research Grant to Denmark. Audrey's Drexel faculty mentor is James E. Mitchell, AIA, M.S., M.Arch. 

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards funding for one academic year of self-designed study, research, creative projects, or teaching English in over 140 countries around the world. 

For more information please visit the Fulbright U.S. Student Program website or email fellowships@drexel.edu! 

Special thanks to the Drexel faculty and staff members who worked with us during the summer and fall to advise individual applicants, review campus applications, and conduct preliminary review and campus interviews:

Adam Zahn, Academic Programs Manager, Office of International Programs

Ana Nye, Program Coordinator, Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry

Anthony Glascock, Professor, Anthropology

Barry Furrow, Professor, Law

Brent Luvaas, Associate Professor, Anthropology

Brian Lee, Associate Professor, Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Catherine Murray, Director, Community Partnerships, Foundation and Corporate Relations

Chris Laincz, Associate Professor, Economics

Dagmar Niebur, Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Dani Ascarelli, Assistant Vice Provost and Director, Drexel Study Abroad

Emily Zimmerman, Associate Professor, Law

Emmanuel Koku, Associate Professor, Sociology

Erica Zelinger, Assistant Director of Communications, Pennoni Honors College

Frank Lee, Associate Professor, Digital Media

Hisham Abdel-Aal, Teaching Professor, Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

Jaya Mohan, Associate Director, Office of Undergraduate Research

Jill Derstine, Associate Clinical Professor, MSN-Advanced Practice Role

Joyce Pittman, Associate Clinical Professor, Education

Kara Spiller, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Kevin Egan, Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry

Kristine Mulhorn, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Health Professions

Kristy Kelly, Assistant Clinical Professor, Education

Lisa Chiarello, Professor, Physical Therapy

Lisa Shen, Advisor, Study Abroad

Lloyd Ackert, Associate Teaching Professor, History

Maria Pia Olivero, Associate Professor, Economics

Owen Montgomery, Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department

Paula Marantz Cohen, Dean, Pennoni Honors College and Distinguished Professor of English

Pawel Hitczenko, Professor, Mathematics

Phillip Ayoub, Assistant Professor, Politics

Richard Rest, Professor, Microbiology

Sarah Haley, Program Coordinator, Lebow PhD program and MS in Economics

Simone Schlicting-Artur, Teaching Professor, Global Studies and Modern Languages

Tali Gidalevitz, Assistant Professor, Biology

Tania Isaac Hyman, Assistant Teaching Professor, Performing Arts

Tony Addison, Professor, Chemistry

Travis Harman, Program Director, English Language Center

Ulrike Altenmuller-Lewis, Associate Professor, Architecture