Eight Tulane alumni, two students receive Fulbright awards
Eight Tulane University alumni and two current students have received grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to conduct independent research or work as English teaching assistants abroad in 2018–19.
Twenty alumni/current students were named semifinalists, while 10 received the prestigious grants. Five of the semifinalists were selected as alternates.
“The Fulbright award is a natural extension of a Tulane education with its similar values of reciprocity, international engagement and promotion of mutual understanding among nations,” said Charlotte Maheu Vail, Tulane’s Fulbright Program adviser and director of Tulane’s Honors Program. “Tulanians flourish with these opportunities awarded by the U.S. Student Fulbright Program to research, teach or study abroad because of the strong academic foundation and research experiences created by the faculty and fostered by the Honors Program.”
“The Fulbright award is a natural extension of a Tulane education with its similar values of reciprocity, international engagement and promotion of mutual understanding among nations.”
Charlotte Maheu Vail
Troy Spier and Derek Werthmann, two current students, each received research grants. Spier, a PhD candidate in linguistics, will travel to Zambia and work in collaboration with members of the Aushi community in the Luapula Province to compile and disseminate data in the form of descriptive grammar.
A PhD student in public health, Werthmann will go to Morocco to work with the environmental epidemiology faculty at Ibn Zohr University. He will assess the association between ambient air pollution and pulmonary health of Agadir residents.
Tulane graduate Jessica Brewer will trek to Peru, where nearly half of the children suffer from anemia. She will study cognitive biases, feeding practices and social networks to understand supplement use and discover complementary methods for future interventions.
The remaining seven alumni were each awarded an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) grants to assist local English teachers abroad.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. Tulane was recently named one of the top producers of Fulbright U.S. Students for the second year in a row.
Tulane’s 2018-19 Fulbright Grantees
Current Students
Troy Spier, PhD student in linguistics, Study/Research (Zambia)
Derek Werthmann, PhD student in public health, Study/Research (Morocco)
Tulane Graduates
Jessica Brewer, Study/Research (Peru)
James Ferrare, English Training Assistant (Malaysia)
Daniel Finley, English Training Assistant (Brazil)
Micayla Mead, English Training Assistant (Brazil)
Sophia Miller, English Training Assistant (Poland)
Emma Peterson, English Training Assistant (Estonia)
Hanan Rimawi, English Training Assistant (Jordan)
Charles Siler, English Training Assistant (Colombia)
