Ten Pitt Graduates Win Fulbrights

Issue Date: 
November 17, 2016

Ten recent University of Pittsburgh graduates have been honored with 2016 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grants, which provide recent bachelor’s degree recipients, graduate students, and young professionals with opportunities to conduct research or fulfill English teaching assistantships abroad. The majority of this year’s Fulbright recipients are currently overseas pursuing graduate-level degrees, conducting research projects, or teaching English language skills throughout Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom, North America, and South America.Fulbright seal

Fulbright recipients are chosen annually on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as a record of service and leadership in their respective fields.  Pitt has consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top Fulbright recipient institutions, placing within the top 30 institutional producers for six consecutive years. The University has produced more than 120 grant recipients since 2006.

This year's winners are alumni of the University’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and University Honors College. 

Maria Barboza, of Clarion, Pa., will commence an English teaching assistantship in Brazil in 2017. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology in 2016.

Anjuli Das, of Santa Barbara, Calif., was awarded an English teaching assistantship in Turkey. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in classics, English literature, and history in 2016. Editor's note: due to security concerns, the U.S. State Department has canceled the Fulbright to Turkey.

Martin Eddy-Harvey, of Pittsburgh, is an English teaching assistant in Malaysia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 2015.

Samuel Gonzales, of Sharpsburg, Pa., is conducting a cultural research project at Yunnan University in Kunming, China. He is examining the written culture of the Yi people, the People’s Republic of China’s seventh largest minority group, within rural regions of the Yunnan Province. Gonzales earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese and history in 2016.

Robert Keiser, of Hanover Township, Pa., will commence an English teaching assistantship in Brazil in 2017. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology in 2012.

Samantha Shipeck, of Gibsonia, Pa., is an English teaching assistant in Germany. She earned a Master of Arts degree in teaching in 2016 as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian and German language and cultural studies in 2015.

Harinee Suthakar,
of Plainsboro, N.J., is pursuing a master’s degree in international development and gender studies within the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. Suthakar earned a Bachelor of Science degree in rehabilitation sciences from Pitt in 2016. 

Shahnaz Terzi, of Cherry Hill, N.J., is an English teaching assistant in Jordan. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication science and disorders in 2016.

Courtney Weaver, of Littlestown, Pa., is an English teaching assistant in Malaysia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 2016.

Alexandra Yingst, of Harrisburg, Pa., is completing coursework toward a master’s degree in coastal and marine management at the University Centre of the Westfjords in Isafjordur, Iceland. Additionally, she is conducting graduate-thesis research, looking at gender issues in fisheries and in aquaculture in the Westfjords region of Iceland. Yingst earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Pitt in 2016.

Established in 1946 and named for the late Senator James William Fulbright, this flagship international educational exchange program for the U.S. government is funded through an annual appropriation by the U.S. Congress to the Department of State. Pitt’s University Honors College, which advises undergraduates and alumni who are interested in pursuing national and international awards, assisted the University’s 2016 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grant recipients.