University Of Alabama At Birmingham scholars receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards
Four University of Alabama at Birmingham students have been selected to receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards. The 2023 cohort brings UAB’s Fulbright recipient total to 56 since 1985.
“Fulbright opens doors and changes lives. What an exciting opportunity for these students,” said Michelle Cook, Ph.D., director of the UAB Office of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships. “Being selected for Fulbright speaks not only to their professional qualifications, but also to their potential to forge connections across cultural barriers. I cannot wait to see what these four accomplish during their Fulbright year.”
Of the UAB students, one recipient was selected for a Fulbright Study/Research Award, one was chosen for the Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship in Public Health, and the other two have been selected to teach in the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program. The ETA programs place recipients in classrooms abroad to assist local English teachers while serving as cultural ambassadors for the United States.
UAB’s 2023 Fulbright recipients are:
Daniel Elston, a neuroscience and philosophy double major in the College of Arts and Sciences, will teach as an ETA in the Czech Republic.
Michael Ho, a post-baccalaureate researcher in the UAB Division of Nephrology, graduated UAB in 2022 in neuroscience and world languages and literatures in the College of Arts and Sciences and will conduct research in Germany.
Jesse Muñoz Tami, a medical sociology major in the College of Arts and Sciences, will teach as an ETA in Spain.
Lindy Reynolds, a doctoral student majoring in epidemiology at the School of Public Health, will serve as a Fulbright Fogarty researchfellow in Nepal.
Elston and Tami are students in the UAB Honors College. Ho is a Honors College alumni.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants to study, teach and conduct research in more than 160 countries. Award selections are based on academic and professional achievement and a record of service and leadership potential in applicants’ fields.
During their time as Fulbright grantees, scholars will work, live with and learn from people in their host countries. The program promotes mutual understanding through academic engagement, cultural exchange and community engagement.
Fulbright recipients address critical global challenges in all disciplines while building relationships, knowledge and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alums have achieved distinction in many fields, including the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize, and serving as a head of state or government.
Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports implementing the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the United States Department of State, including conducting an annual scholarship competition.