Fulbright Grants to Seven OU Students and Alumni

NORMAN, OKLA. – Seven University of Oklahoma students and alumni have been awarded Fulbright grants to learn and teach abroad in the 2020-2021 academic year.

They are among more than 1,900 U.S. students, artists and early career professionals who were offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English and conduct research in over 140 countries throughout the world. Fulbright grant recipients are selected on the basis of academic excellence and achievement, as well as their leadership potential in their respective fields.

“We are incredibly proud of our Fulbright award recipients, who have worked hard throughout their academic careers to earn this prestigious honor,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “Their selection is a testament to our culture of nurturing academic excellence and student success. We know these high achievers will represent the very best of OU during their time abroad.”

OU’s Fulbright recipients:

• Hannah Day, of Wichita, Kansas, graduated in May 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics. She will spend her Fulbright year in Paris, France, completing a master’s degree in theoretical physics through the École Normale Supérieure International Centre for Fundamental Physics.
• Britt Leake, of Wichita, Kansas, graduated in May 2020 with a master’s degree in international studies. He also earned his bachelor’s degree at OU with a triple major in international studies, French and Arabic and a minor in Spanish. He will spend his Fulbright year conducting archival research at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi, India, through affiliation with the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance at Jawaharlal Nehru University, for a project on India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Benjamin Levenson, of Cleveland, Ohio, graduated in May 2020 with a triple major in international security studies, German and history. He will spend his Fulbright year as an English teaching assistant in Germany.
• Lily Lohery, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduated in May 2020 with a master’s degree in international studies. She also earned her bachelor’s degree at OU in international studies and Russian. She will spend her Fulbright year as an English teaching assistant in Moldova.
• Brit Maguire, of Kansas City, Missouri, graduated in December 2019 with dual bachelor’s degrees in environmental sustainability and German. She will spend her Fulbright year as an English teaching assistant in Germany.
• Davis Mitchell, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, graduated in December 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in international business and finance with minors in Spanish and international studies. He will spend his Fulbright year completing an internship in Mexico City and taking graduate courses at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.
• Thomas Young, of Edmond, Oklahoma, is finishing a master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at OU with an expected graduation in summer 2020. He will spend his Fulbright year as an English teaching assistant in Germany.

In addition to the seven finalists, two other OU students were named as alternates: Elizabeth Besozzi and Taylor Jipp. Alternates may be offered an award if additional funding becomes available.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 380,000 participants — chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.

In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright.