Four Pitt Students Win Foreign Language Scholarships

Four University of Pittsburgh students were honored with David L. Boren Awards from the National Security Education Program. The awards provide support for American students to study foreign languages in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. national security interests.

David L. Boren Fellowships provide as much as $30,000 to graduate students, while Boren Scholarships provide a maximum of $20,000 to undergraduate students and recent graduates. Pitt’s four students have joined more than 150 other honorees, studying across the world in such nations as Brazil, China, India, Israel, Morocco, Tanzania, and South Korea.

Pitt’s Boren Fellow is Zachary M. Uram, of Pittsburgh, a graduate student pursuing a joint degree in law and Public and International Affairs. Uram is studying Portuguese in Brazil.

Pitt’s Boren Scholars are Jacky Chen, of Lindenhurst, N.Y., a neuroscience major studying Mandarin in China; Leah Kaufman, of Jenkintown, Pa., a psychology and French language and literature major studying Arabic in Israel; and Andrew C. Nitz, of Upper Darby, Pa., a Russian language major studying Turkish in Azerbaijan.

The National Security Education Program is a federal initiative designed to develop broader and more qualified pools of U.S. citizens with foreign language and international skills. The David L. Boren Awards for International Study are named for the principal author of the legislation that created the National Security Education Program in 1991.