February 14, 2022

We are pleased to announce that 6 Drexel students and recent alumni have been selected as semi-finalists for the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program for 2022-23. These students spent considerable time developing research or study proposals, crafting application essays, and incorporating feedback from supportive readers.

After being chosen by Fulbright U.S. 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!

2022 Fulbright Semi-Finalists

Jerusalem Tamire
BS Economics ‘22
Fulbright Program: Study/Research Grant, Greece
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Theodore Katerinakis

Jerusalem is a senior economics major with minors in neuroscience and sociology and a certificate in health and medical humanities. She has a strong interest in all things healthcare policy but is specifically interested in health equity. She has experience in public health research, economic research, start-up incubation, legal aid, financial advisory, and accounting. Jerusalem has worked in three countries and enjoys traveling. Her Fulbright research project will study consumer behaviors towards locally produced items in Crete by investigating gender bias and other prejudices that could affect the market.

Stephanie Katz
MS Arts Administration and Museum Leadership ‘20
Fulbright Program: Study/Research Grant, Spain
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Laura-Edythe Coleman and Jen Dionisio

Stephanie Katz graduated from Drexel in Winter 2020 with an MS in Arts Administration and Museum Leadership and a minor in marketing. Additionally, she has a bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies and Women's Health from Hampshire College. Beyond these formal academic pursuits, she participated in the Women in Tech SEO (2021) and the Museum Council of Greater Philadelphia’s Emerging Museum Professionals (2022) Mentorship Programs. As a committed lifelong learner and motivated team builder based in Philadelphia, PA, her interests traverse the lines of museum marketing and data-driven strategy for the cultural sector. In recent years she's been involved in strategic initiatives with the Philadelphia Contemporary, the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, and most recently the Philadelphia Magic Gardens. However, she began her career in the museum sector at the oldest natural science institution in the Western Hemisphere, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

Before joining Drexel, Stephanie worked as an international interpreter, liaison, and educator for international organizations such as the United Nations Development Program, Chilean Ministry of Education, the University of Queensland, and the Department of Trade and Industry of the Republic of South Africa. During her Fulbright, she will collaborate with the Museo Nacional del Prado and Drexel University to collect museum visitation data and develop actionable universal insights to support the greater museum sector.

Obadiah Baker
EdD student Leadership and Management
Fulbright Program: Study/Research Grant, Israel
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Deanna Hill, Dr. Kristen Betts, Dr. Harriette Rasmussen, and Dr. Jennifer Adams

Obadiah Baker is a native of Cleveland's Hough community, infamous for the Hough Riots of 1966. Growing up in a lower-middle-class household of six siblings, Mr. Baker faced challenges as a Black male in a disadvantaged and underserved impoverished inner-city community. This understanding of intersectionality and how it affects a person's advancement inspired his antiracism research and community activism. In 2021, Obadiah produced and composed a film score for a documentary film called "The Shadow Between Us" with The Silhouettes from America's Got Talent about systemic racism and healing the divide through shadow dance. This film won "Official Selection" in the 2022 Toronto Black Film Festival.

A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, New England Conservatory of Music, and the University of Arkansas Grantham, Military Intelligence and Civil Affairs Army officer, Afghanistan War Veteran, aerospace and defense quality manager, award-winning independent film producer, and now a Fulbright semi-finalist scholar, Obadiah rose above his circumstances to achieve great success. Wanting to give back, he founded Tender Heart Crusades in 2009, a nonprofit organization that directs its attention toward community involvement. Today, Obadiah continues to make great strides through scholarship, film, music, manufacturing, the Army, and community service. His Fulbright research will study the cross-cultural replication and power of shadow dance as a conflict resolution and global peace intervention technique, with a focus on the interplay of Israeli Gaga and American shadow dance on Israeli Jewish students' awareness of race and identity.

Akilah Chatman
BS Environmental Science ‘22
Fulbright Program: Study/Research Grant, Cambodia
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Dane Ward and Dr. Beth Watson

Akilah (they/them) is a 2022 candidate for the B.S. in Environmental Science with a focus in Applied Environmental Science. Raised between South Florida and Jamaica, their world view has been shaped by the practice of accessibility, from readability of content to the ability to spend time in nature. This holds true for the work they do in both the Ward Lab and the Coastal Change Lab housed by the Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science department and the Academy of Natural Sciences. Some projects they have recently finished and are currently working on include conducting a greenhouse gas inventory and writing a climate action plan for Abington Township, leveraging access to green space as a tool to develop STEM identity in poor and minority schoolchildren in Philadelphia, and auditing the technical report of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary for social justice considerations to help combat structural environmental racism. When not in the lab, physically or mentally, they spend their time trying to read at least one book a month, collecting recipes, working out, and designing clothes. For their Fulbright research, they will be working with The Idea Consultants and the Cambodian Ministry of Education to design a community garden in the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh that will be guided by the needs of the community and serve as an outdoor learning space for schools around the city.

 *This does not include the students who declined to be publicized in this step of the process.

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:

Lloyd Ackert, English & Philosophy
Jennifer Adams, Global and International Education
Stacey E. Ake, English & Philosophy
Bill Albertson, English Language Center
Peter Amato, English & Philosophy
Katie Barak, Pennoni Honors College Academic Programs
Ben Barnett, English Language Center
Vikas Bhandawat, Biomedical Engineering
Jen Blazina, Art & Art History
Hilary Bonta, English Language Center
Octavio Borges-Delgado, Global Studies & Modern Languages
Rebecca Clothey, Global and International Education
Laura-Edythe Coleman, Arts Administration & Museum Leadership
Paul Cortopassi, Academic Advising
Kimberly David-Chung, Virtual Student Experience
Lauren Davis, Pennoni Honors College Academic Programs
Casey Devine, Education Abroad
Karen DeVose, Academic Advising
John Doherty, Co-op Education
Steve Dolph, Global Studies & Modern Languages
Erin Durkin, Academic Advising
Brenda Dyer, Global Studies & Modern Languages
Kareem Edouard, Learning Technologies
Kevin Egan, Pennoni Honors College Academic Programs
Alison Evans, Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Cara Fantini, Undergraduate Research & Enrichment Programs
Barry R Furrow, Health Law
Tasha Gardner, Center for Inclusive Education & Scholarship
Rehab Ghazal, English Language Center
Tali Gidalevitz, Biology
Sarah Grogan, Academic Advising
Katie Gross, Recruitment & Retention
Alyssa Heinsohn, Academic Advising
Marcia Henisz, Global Engagement
Cathy Hernandez, Arts Administration & Museum Leadership
Barbara Hoekje, Communication
Kate Hughes, Academic Advising
Shardé Johnson, Center for Black Culture
Valerie E Klein, Teacher Education
Daniel Korschun, Marketing
Parfait Kouacou, Global Studies & Modern Languages
Andres Kriete, Biomedical Engineering
Christopher Laincz, Economics
Frank Lee, Digital Media
Melinda Lewis, Pennoni Honors College Marketing & Media
Selena Lopez-McKenzie, Academic Advising
Brent Luvaas, Global Studies & Modern Languages
Stephanie Manasse, Psychology
Maria de la Luz Matus-Mendoza, Global Studies & Modern Languages
Sarah Miller, Academic Advising
Marna Mozeff, First-Year Exploratory Studies
Kristine Mulhorn, Health Administration
Diana Nicholas, Design
Dagmar Niebur, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Karen Nulton, English & Philosophy
Brad Petitfils, Academic Advising
Abioseh Porter, English & Philosophy
Florette Press, Academic Advising
Carolyn Riley, Academic Advising
Marisol Rodriguez Mergenthal, Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation
Dorilona Rose, Dean's Office
Simone Schlichting-Artur, Global Studies & Modern Languages
Adrian Shieh, Biomedical Engineering
Rebecca Signore, Center for Learning and Academic Success Services
Kate Skladanek, Academic Advising
Suruchi Sood, Community Health and Prevention
Tracy Staeudle, Academic Advising
Jeff Stanley, Screenwriting & Playwriting
Ashley Trump, Education Abroad
Nielufar Varjavand, Global Health
Rebecca Weidensaul, Veterans Affairs
Riley Wilkins, Academic Advising
Julia Wisniewski, Pennoni Honors College Academic Programs
Erica L Zelinger, Pennoni Honors College Marketing & Media
Emily Zimmerman, Criminal Law
Ian B Zimmermann, Communication