A&S Students Earn Prestigious Awards

Some of the most prominent awards in academia will go to 16 University of Louisville students and alumni. Of those 16 award winners, 14 are future graduates and alumni from the College of Arts & Sciences – including six Fulbrights, two Critical Language Scholars, one Truman Scholar and one English-Speaking Union Scholar.
A&S Students Earn Prestigious Awards

Pictured left to right: Madeleine Loney, Megg Ward, Adeline Wilson, Pres. James Ramsey, Paige Brewer, Lila Lutfi, Lashawn Ford, Patricia Condon, Welby Edwards, Zerlina Bartholomew, Bob Rounsavall, Amanda Allen, Charles Denny, Philip Moore, and Conrad Smar

Truman Scholar Amanda Allen, a double major in political science and communication, was the only student selected for the award in Kentucky and one of only 58 students selected nationally.


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The prizes fund research, teaching assignments and foreign language instruction at destinations around the globe including Russia, Scotland, Turkey, Thailand, Morocco, Dubai and Cuba.

“I think it’s noteworthy that almost all of these distinguished scholars are from Kentucky,” said UofL President James Ramsey. “It feels good to know that we are not only attracting Kentucky’s academically gifted students, but also are preparing them to successfully compete for the world’s most prestigious scholarships.”

Including this year, there have been 89 UofL Fulbright award winners since 1996 – 68 from the College of Arts & Sciences — more than all other Kentucky institutions combined and on par with some of the nation’s most eminent colleges.

Eight scholars earned 2015 U.S. Student Fulbright Awards. They are:

    • Zerlina Bartholomew, Frankfort, graduating senior, dual degrees in political science and French, will conduct research in Morocco
    • Lila Lutfi, Louisville, graduating senior, political science, will conduct research in the United Arab Emirates
    • Ariel Stenger, Burlington, 2012 graduate, economics, will teach in Thailand
    • Sirena Wurth, Boaz, 2013 graduate, political science, will teach in Bulgaria
    • Morgan Blair, Paintsville, 2014 graduate, English and humanities, will teach in Turkey.
    • Paige Brewer, Wilder, graduating senior, political science, will teach in Kazakhstan
    • Lashawn Ford, Erlanger, graduating senior, degrees in justice administration, sociology, psychology and philosophy, will conduct research in England
    • Allison Fried, Gwynedd Valley, Pa., graduate student completing her studies this semester and currently a teacher at Valley High School in Louisville, will teach in Spain


    Two graduating seniors earned Critical Language Scholarships. They are:


    One student was awarded an English-Speaking Union scholarship:

    • Adeline Wilson, Hebron, junior, English and communication, will spend the summer studying contemporary literature at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland

    The university previously announced that Louisville junior Amanda Allen was the only college student in Kentucky to earn a 2015 Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a prominent award given to just 58 scholars this year and valued at $30,000.

    Several students were awarded prizes given by the university’s College of Arts and Sciences for international travel and continuing education. Winners of those scholarships are:

    • Megg Ward, Mary Churchill Humphrey Memorial Scholarship, Crestwood, graduating senior, theatre arts, humanities and liberal studies major, will spend the 2015-2016 academic year at University of Birmingham, England, studying Shakespeare.
    • Brandt Coleman, Irvin F. and Alice S. Etscorn International Summer Research Award, Fort Mitchell, sophomore, environmental science, will spend the summer in Mexico studying the biodiversity of artificial reefs.
    • Stephanie Dooper, Etscorn award, Owensboro, junior, political science and liberal studies, will travel to the Netherlands to study sustainable land use.
    • Philip Moore, Etscorn award, Louisville, junior, political science and economics, will spend part of his summer in Cuba examining the Cuban economy.

    Patricia Condon, who heads the National and International Scholarship Opportunities office, has spent more than a decade building UofL’s scholarship program.

    “We’ve built an infrastructure that truly challenges and nurtures our top scholars,” said Condon. “From admissions to graduation, a dedicated team of faculty and staff work with our students as mentors and advisers to provide them with rich and varied opportunities both at home and abroad.”

    View photos from the event in our Flickr album.