VCU news

By Mike Porter

Six Virginia Commonwealth University alumni have been awarded Fulbright grants for the 2015-2016 academic year. The awards include four English Teaching Assistant grants and two research grants.   

With this newest group of Fulbright student scholarship recipients, 34 VCU students and recent alumni have been offered Fulbright awards since VCU established the National Scholarship Office in 2005.

Wade Angeli, of Centreville, Virginia, received a bachelor’s degree in communication arts in the School of the Arts in 2014. While at VCU, he worked at the Global Education Office and studied abroad in Italy, Spain and New Zealand. Angeli will teach English to secondary school students in Santa Coloma, Andorra, as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. After his Fulbright year, Angeli will continue working abroad in international education and will eventually pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Mary Beth Bird, of Lexington, Virginia, received a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the School of Engineering in 2010. She was a member of the Honors College and a 2008 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar. Bird later received a Master of Science degree in medical anthropology from the University of Oxford and spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho. With the Fulbright grant, Bird will return to Lesotho to conduct anthropological research to examine maternity experiences, in collaboration with the National University of Lesotho and the Botha-Bothe District Health Management Team. Following her Fulbright, Bird hopes to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. in medical anthropology and begin a career in academic medicine and global women’s health. 

Lindsey FitzGerald, from Williamsburg, Virginia, received her bachelor’s degree in English from the College of Humanities and Sciences in 2014, was a member of the Honors College and took advanced French classes. She will travel to Morocco to teach English. While in Morocco, she plans to work with a local high school teacher to establish a pen pal system between Moroccan students and high school students in rural Virginia. FitzGerald plans to study Moroccan Arabic while strengthening her fluency in French. FitzGerald hopes to gain more years of teaching experience in North Africa and the Middle East before pursuing the Cambridge Diploma of English Language Teaching. 

Jennifer Lawhorne, from Woodbridge, Virginia, received her bachelor’s degree in mass communications from the Robertson School of Media and Culture, part of the College of Humanities and Sciences, in 2001. In 2013, she received a master's degree from VCU and the equivalent degree from the University of Messina after participating in VCU's Transatlantic Dual Degree in Cinema and Language program, which allowed her to study in Spain and Italy for a year. Lawhorne will use her grant to conduct community-based research in Messina, Italy, working with immigrant populations to use film as a way to share their stories of integration. She will also research and interview filmmaker Virginia Onorato, whose work inspired Lawhorne’s project. Lawhorne plans to pursue a university faculty position and use her Fulbright experience
to strengthen the field of participatory filmmaking. 

Chris Rories, from Vienna, Virginia, received his bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern studies and Islamic studies from the School of World Studies, part of the College of Humanities and Sciences, in 2012, worked at the World Studies Media Center and participated in the Arabic Club and Model U.N. Club. Rories will use his award to teach English in Malaysia and to create and facilitate a Model U.N. Club for his students to demonstrate how global issues connect directly to their own lives and communities. After completing his Fulbright year abroad, Rories will pursue a career in the U.S. Department of State. 

Ghatul Abdul Qayum, a 2011 graduate in economics/political science and religious studies, was offered a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Malaysia. Abdul Qayum has declined her Fulbright award to attend law school. 

Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries, through the exchange of people, knowledge and skills. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Program provides funding for students, scholars and professionals to undertake graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. 

The National Scholarship Office at VCU is based in the Honors College and works with VCU alumni, graduate students, and undergraduates who wish to compete for prestigious national and international scholarships, such as the Fulbright. If you are interested in applying for the Fulbright or other nationally or internationally competitive scholarships, please contact the NSO at natlscholar@vcu.edu or 804-828-6868. 

About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 226 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-seven of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University comprise VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.