7 UNL students awarded Fulbright scholarships for foreign study

Seven current or former University of Nebraska-Lincoln students were awarded study-abroad opportunities this year under prestigious Fulbright scholarships.

Maureen Gallagher, Andrew Hansen, Sean Murray and Sara Tuckerman of Lincoln, Anna Drozda of Omaha, Steven Ryherd of Ankeny, Iowa, and Lauren Hegarty of Fremont received the Fulbright offers earlier this year and will begin their specific study programs soon.

The flagship international educational program sponsored by the U.S. government, the Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program provides grants for graduate students, scholars and professionals, and teachers and administrators from the United States and other countries. Participants are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential.

Fellowship advisers in UNL's International Affairs and Office of Undergraduate Studies oversee the student application process.

Drozda earned her bachelor's degree in 2005 in art and art history and applied to study at Charles University in Prague in the Czech Republic, where she will work on the project "Women in Socialist Realist Art." Her research is important in establishing an understanding between gender, art and the former totalitarian society. She was an Honors Program graduate and participated in the Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences program at UNL with faculty adviser Michael Hoff in art and art history.

Gallagher is a master's degree candidate in German and women's studies and will study at Humboldt University in Berlin on a project titled "Gender Across Ideology: Two Periodicals 1909-1933." Gallagher was in the UNL Honors Program.

Hansen is a senior majoring in history and will study at the University of Gottingen in Germany. He will take courses in modern European history and pursue independent research on Friedrich August Tholuck and conservative Protestants in the early 19th century. He is an Honors Program student and is involved in UCARE with faculty mentor David Cahan, studying "A Biography of Hermann von Helmholtz."

Hegarty is a senior majoring in elementary education and will have a teaching assistantship in Argentina, teaching English to university students and leading a youth language program. She is in the Honors Program and also participated in UCARE, with faculty mentor Ali Moeller, working on "Documenting and Improving Student Learning Through Language Portfolios."

Murray earned his juris doctor with distinction in May and has been accepted to study "An Evaluation of the U.S.-Lithuania Bilateral Investment Treaty," at the International School of Management in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Ryherd earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in UNL's architectural engineering program, and will study acoustics at the Chalmers Institute of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden. Ryherd was a UCARE project student under professor Lily Wang and his project was "Acoustic Atriums."

Tuckerman was a May Honors Program graduate in education and French and applied for a fellowship in France. She was awarded, but chose to decline an offer for a Fulbright teaching assistantship with the French government.

Color JPEG images of five of the students who accepted Fulbright grants can found at the links below. An image of Ryherd with his wife, Erica Bowden Ryherd, who is studying in Sweden on an F.V. Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship can be found at this link.

CONTACT: Laura Damuth, UNL Fellowship Adviser, (402) 472-5024