High honors: Spider students net an impressive array of awards
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Every year, University of Richmond students earn prestigious and competitive awards, grants, and fellowships — and their number is growing. UR students and recent grads continue to excel in their fields of study while pursuing opportunities for national and international study, research, and service.
Check out these recent student success stories.
Fellowships provide recipients unique opportunities to network with other leaders, conduct cutting edge research, and live, work, and study abroad. These experiences change and shape students’ own journeys while also impacting the world around them. The example set by these remarkable students is sure to inspire other Spiders to follow in their footsteps.
In their own words: These Fulbright Spiders are ready to hit the ground running
The Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through educational exchange. UR has had 75 student Fulbright grant recipients, including seven this year. The latest Fulbright student scholars will travel to Colombia, Germany, India, Mexico, Morocco, and Spain. Learn more about how they’ll use their grants starting this fall.
Meet our 4 new Goldwater scholars
The University of Richmond is the only Virginia school in 2022 with four Goldwater scholars, who will join the ranks of the brightest undergraduate science and math researchers in the nation. Harry Dang, Molly Kate Kreider, Andrew Brady, and Narmeen Rashid make up the largest number of Goldwater scholars in a single year for UR. The Goldwater scholarship is open to college sophomores and juniors interested in pursuing careers and fostering excellence in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering.
Leah Ghazali’s skills with big data earned her full tuition, as well as employment after graduation through the highly competitive Department of Defense Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship. This award provides full tuition for up to five years, mentorship, summer internships, a stipend, and full-time employment after graduation at one of more than 200 research labs across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department of Defense network.
Undergrads' hard work in the lab rewarded with prestigious scholarships
Camryn Carter (left) and Helen Xia were awarded Beckman Scholarships to support their research aimed at combatting disease. The scholarships for Carter, from North Chesterfield, Virginia, and Xia, from Coppell, Texas, are part of a larger award to the University of Richmond from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, which supports student research in the sciences.
Lexi Cobbs (left) and McKenna Dunbar were selected as finalists for a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, the nation’s premier graduate fellowship for students pursuing careers as public service leaders. Cobbs and Dunbar were two of 189 students selected from 705 nominations for this year’s competition.
Morgan Malstead, Adelaide Tracey, and Lillian Tzanev are studying foreign languages this summer through the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships. The prestigious program is part of a U.S. government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages, which the U.S Department of State defines as those languages less commonly taught in U.S. schools but essential for America’s national security and economic prosperity.
Prestigious international program selects Griffin Trau for study in China
Griffin Trau, a 2018 graduate, will pursue a Master of Global Affairs at Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in Beijing as part of the Schwarzman Scholarship, a year-long program where students from around the globe study China's role in the world.
UR Students Offered Competitive Gilman Scholarships
Sixteen University of Richmond students, the most at one time in UR’s history, were offered Gilman scholarships to support their study abroad experiences during the 2022-23 academic year. Gilman grants provide opportunities for students who might not otherwise be able to afford to study or intern abroad. Ten additional students also earned this scholarship earlier this year.
Spider fuses business and technology to serve others
Penny Hu was named a 2022 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, a national coalition of more than 1,000 colleges and universities. The yearlong program aims to foster personal, professional, and civic growth for students who have demonstrated a capacity for leadership and an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country.
Meena Darvesh, Olivia du Bois, and Morgan Malstead received competitive Boren scholarships to study abroad in Africa, Indonesia, and India. An initiative of the National Security Education Program, Boren Scholars study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad. Recipients commit to working in the federal government for at least one year after graduation.
Two recent graduates of the University of Richmond — Ally Osterberg and Benjamin Weiser — are heading to the University of Oxford to pursue one-year master’s degree programs through the Jepson Scholars Program. The program, which covers tuition, room, board, and fees, is funded through the Jepson Scholars Foundation, founded by Jepson School benefactors Robert S. Jepson Jr. and Alice Andrews Jepson.