University of Chicago students collected significantly more Fulbright fellowships this year than last, with 30 students receiving Fulbright honors for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Thirteen students took Fulbright U.S. Student Program Fellowships, awarded yearly to graduating seniors or graduate students. Seventeen others accepted a separate Fulbright honor, the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award Fellowships-the highest number garnered by any U.S. university.

Both numbers represent an increase from last year, when a total of 20 fellowships were awarded to Chicago students.

"The fellowships are wonderful opportunities. They allow students to complete their research in-country without needing to worry about funding," said Brooke Noonan, Director of the Office of Graduate Affairs. "In addition to the experience itself, they become part of a valuable Fulbright network that will help them far into the future."

Eight Chicago students this year were honored with both fellowships andhad to choose between them. Counting all of the fellowships offered, 19students won the Fulbright IIE, and 19 won the Fulbright-Hays.

Congress established the Fulbright program in 1946, and its multiple opportunities have allowed students, scholars and professionals the opportunity to study, research and teach in other countries. The Fulbright program aims to "enable the government of the United States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries." It has helped more than 250,000 participants to experience other countries' political, economic and cultural ideas.

Noonan said the University benefits from programs that enrich academic achievements and ease fund constraints by enabling students to do research that their departments may not be able to pay for.

The Fulbright program has opportunities for both U.S. and foreign participants, offering two specific programs for U.S. students: the U.S. Student Program Fellowship and the DDRA.

The U.S. Student Program Fellowship, administered by the Institute of International Education, is given to graduating seniors or graduate students to study, research or teach for nine to 12 months. It is the largest international exchange program in the United States.

This year's Student Program fellows will travel the world and study everything from hip-hop in Croatia, to "green" energy and land struggle in Brazil, to rituals and the end of the monarchy in Nepal.

The DDRA, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, is for U.S. citizens or permanent residents to conduct dissertation research in the fields of foreign languages or area studies for six to 12 months in a non-Western country.

The 2009-2010 DDRA fellows' research includes romantic poetry of the late Meiji Period in Japan; microfinance, commercial capitalism and social regulation in Paraguay; and childhood, medicine and technology in Senegal's development.

This year's winners and country of study:

Fulbright IIE

  • Matthew Barton, Brazil
  • David Bholat, United Kingdom
  • David DeMarco, Germany
  • Kathryn Goldfarb, Japan*
  • Rachel Jans, Germany
  • Owen Kohl, Croatia
  • Julia Langbein, France
  • Benjamin Luley, France
  • Anne Mocko, Nepal
  • Michael O'Toole, Germany
  • Melissa Reilly, Italy
  • LaShandra Sullivan, Brazil
  • Kathryn Tanaka, Japan*

Fulbright-Hays

  • Nicholas Albertson, Japan
  • Elise Berman, Marshall Islands
  • Max Bohnenkamp, China
  • Zach Chase, Peru
  • Elizabeth Fagan, Armenia*
  • Jonathan Glade, Korea*
  • Leah Goldman, Russia
  • Ethan Harkness, Taiwan*
  • Eleanor Hyun, Korea & China
  • Julia Kowalski, India
  • Diane Lewis, Japan
  • Kathryn McHarry, Senegal
  • Jeremy Morse, India*
  • Nicole Mottier, Mexico
  • Laurencio Sanguino, Mexico*
  • Caroline Schuster, Paraguay
  • Joseph Yackley, Egypt*

*Students chosen for both Fulbright awards must choose between the two.