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US-Ireland Alliance Announces George J. Mitchell Scholars

The US-Ireland Alliance today announced the 2007-2008 class of George J. Mitchell Scholars. The new class includes 2nd Lt. Sean Healy, a US officer currently serving in Iraq (who was interviewed via an audio link to Baghdad arranged by the Army); Brendan Hayes, an AIDS activist working with orphans in Swaziland; Art Chan, a filmmaker and counselor for immigrant juvenile delinquents at San Quentin Prison; Frank McMillan, a teacher in the Bronx, and Nate Wright, a human rights activist who founded STAND: a Student Anti-Genocide Coalition focused on Darfur. The prestigious George J. Mitchell Scholarships are awarded annually to twelve Americans, under the age of 30, to pursue a year of post-graduate study at any university on the island of Ireland. This year’s Selection Committee included former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake; Pulitzer-Prize winning author Samantha Power; Ireland’s Ambassador to the US Noel Fahey; President Bush’s former Ambassador to Ireland, James Kenny; one of the world’s leading experts on breast cancer, Dr. Robert Clarke; former speechwriter to President George H.W. Bush, Mary Kate Cary; Tom Blanton, Director of the National Security Archive; Maureen Murphy, Dean of the School of Education and Irish historian at Hofstra; and Desha Girod, a Mitchell Scholar alum who studied at Trinity College Dublin and is currently a Ph.D. student at Stanford. The awards are named after former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell who spearheaded the historic Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which produced peace in Northern Ireland. Launched that year, the Mitchell Scholarship program recognizes outstanding young Americans who exhibit the highest standards of academic excellence, leadership and community service. The Mitchell Scholarship program seeks to link future American leaders with the island of Ireland. "We are thrilled with the new class of George Mitchell Scholars," said Trina Vargo, president of the US-Ireland Alliance. "From Iraq to Swaziland to the Bronx to working with juvenile delinquents in prison, every one of these new Mitchell Scholars reflects the George Mitchell spirit that no problem is too large to be tackled and solved." Ireland's Ambassador to the United States, Noel Fahey, welcomed the selection of the new Mitchell scholars. "We congratulate the 2007-2008 Mitchell class," Ambassador Fahey said. "We welcome them, and we look forward to their contributions to friendship and close ties between the United States and Ireland." The newly announced 2007-2008 George Mitchell Scholars are listed below along with their hometowns, their US university affiliation, and their Irish and Northern Ireland university assignment, pending final approval from the universities. A more complete biography of each Scholar follows. Allison Barlow (Orange Park, Florida) US Naval Academy University College Dublin - Meteorology Jeffrey Benedict (Gahanna, Ohio) Vanderbilt National University of Ireland Maynooth - Musicology Art Chan (Tiburon, California) Georgetown University University College Cork - Contemporary Migration/Diaspora Studies Sarah David (Baltimore, Maryland) Johns Hopkins University Queen’s University, Belfast - Ethnic Conflict Brendan Hayes (Tupper Lake, New York) St. Lawrence University University College Dublin - Development Studies Sean Healy (Kingston, Rhode Island) US Military Academy Dublin City University - International Security and Conflict Bernadette McFadden (Downington, Pennsylvania) Dickinson College Trinity College Dublin - Applied Social Research Franklin McMillan (Atlanta, Georgia) University of Chicago Queen’s University, Belfast - Theory, Culture & Identity Scot Miller (Fargo, North Dakota) Harvard University Trinity College Dublin - Environmental Sciences Jimmy Soni (Westmont, Illinois) Duke University University College Cork - Politics Erin Stevens (Manlius, New York) US Military Academy University College Dublin - Cultural Policy and Arts Management Nathaniel Wright (Blackfoot, Idaho) Georgetown University National University of Ireland Galway The Mitchell Scholarship program was inaugurated with an endowment from the Government of Ireland. Other significant financial support is provided by the Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, BD (Becton Dickinson & Company), Bombardier Aerospace (NI) Foundation, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, and the McDonnell Charitable Foundation. Universities in Ireland and Northern Ireland contribute housing and tuition to the Mitchell Scholars. Quinlan Private is a benefactor of the US-Ireland Alliance. Corporate sponsors of the US-Ireland Alliance include: CRH, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, Diageo Ireland, IONA Technologies, and the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group. Biographies of the 2007-2008 George J. Mitchell Scholars Allison Barlow will graduate from the US Naval Academy this spring. During her years at the Academy, she has served in numerous positions of leadership, including Brigade Sergeant Major, one of the most senior student leadership position awarded at the Academy. She has spent time working with orphans in China, building a community center in the Dominican Republic and learning how to fly a Cessna-172. She is at the top of her class academically and excels as a three –sport varsity athlete. Allison is an honors oceanography student and ultimately plans to work on environmental issues affecting the world, including global warming. Allison will pursue a master's in Meteorology at University College Dublin. Born and raised in rural Ohio, Jeffrey Benedict is one of the very first in his family to go to college. He is currently a senior at Vanderbilt University, where he is getting a degree in Modern European Studies with a Minor in Musicology. Jeff’s Appalachian family roots have provided him with a rich musical heritage and a keen interest in music history. He is an avid cellist and fiddle mandolin player. Jeff was appointed second in command in his Army ROTC program. He is presently co-directing an organization to fight gender-based sexual and domestic violence in his community and is president of his campus ministry group. Jeff will study Musicology next year at the National University of Ireland Maynooth. Art Chan has a passion for storytelling. More specifically, he is passionate about making sure that the stories of those who are usually silenced are heard. He has been described as fearless and certainly his life seems to reflect that. He has worked with immigrant juvenile delinquents in San Quentin Prison and Latino gang members in Virginia. He created a training module called “Look Me in the Eyes,” designed to facilitate communication with alienated immigrant Asian youth. And he produced three films featuring a program that serves low-income immigrant youths in San Rafael, California. Currently, Art is a John Carroll fellow at Georgetown University, and has been a student leader, serving as President of the Chinese Student Alliance, co-founder of an organization called Empowering Young Asian-Americans, and creator of DRAW, a curriculum designed to educate youth about their roots as people of color. He will pursue a master’s in Contemporary Migration and Diaspora studies at University College Cork, and ultimately wants to create films. A 2006 Truman Scholar and a 2005 recipient of a Boren Scholarship, Sarah David is passionate about politics and issues of national security. She is currently a political science major at Johns Hopkins University, though her leadership activities extend beyond the Hopkins campus. Just this year, she successfully managed the State Senate election of a Maryland Democratic candidate, who won two weeks ago with an overwhelming majority of the vote. Sarah has a deep commitment to public service and civic engagement and for the past several years has actively shared this passion by teaching international relations, civics and college counseling to Baltimore City public high school students. She developed and organized the Homeland Security Conference, which brought together high school students throughout the Baltimore Metropolitan area to learn about national security issues. On campus, Sarah is an active leader of the College Democrats, and was elected to participate in a live televised debate on national security. Sarah speaks Arabic, Hebrew and has studied Japanese for six years. She will study Ethnic Conflict next year at Queen’s University Belfast. Brendan Hayes has spent the last year and a half living in Swaziland, first as a Peace Corps volunteer and then with the Swazi National AIDS council, helping to run an organization that works with AIDS orphans. Prior to working abroad, Brendan graduated summa cum laude in 2004 from St. Lawrence University, where he served as captain of the varsity football team. In his senior year, Brendan received both the St. Lawrence Male Scholar Athlete award as well as the Scholar Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation. For two years in a row, Brendan was selected to receive the history major of the year award. Brendan will seek a master’s in Development Studies at University College Dublin. Sean Healy graduated fifth in his class in 2005 from the US Military Academy, where he won numerous academic awards, including the Founders and Patriots Award given to the cadet with the highest overall GPA majoring in Environmental Science or Engineering. While at the Academy, Sean served in many positions of leadership, such as Brigade Logistics Officer, responsible for supplies, transportation and food for over 4100 cadets. He has been an active volunteer, serving as President of United Students for Veterans’ Health. Currently, Sean is serving in Iraq as a Combat Engineer Platoon Leader. Sean is interested in international security issues will pursue a master’s in International Security and Conflict Studies at Dublin City University. A native of Pennsylvania, Bernadette McFadden is a senior at Dickinson College, where she is a Rubendall Senior Scholar, awarded to the student with the highest combined level of leadership and service. She also has been recognized as the highest-ranking member of her class two years in a row. Bernadette is the editor in chief of the college yearbook and is on the board of the local United Way. After her first year at Dickinson, Bernadette took a year off to work for Americorps in Atlanta. She is deeply interested in health care for the poor and has been an active health care volunteer in her community, working at a clinic for migrant workers and immigrants. After she graduates from college, Bernadette will pursue a master’s in Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin and eventually go to medical school. Franklin McMillan is a 2005 graduate of the University of Chicago, where he was a Student Marshall –the university’s highest academic honor, and one of three students chosen to speak at graduation. In addition he won the Morton-Murphy Award, given by the University for “exceptional contributions to the university community.” Frank, who was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year, co-founded an ACLU chapter on campus and founded a community service group designed to engage more male students in service. Currently, Frank teaches fifth grade in the Bronx as a member of Teach for America. He started a hip-hop dance team at the school and also teaches Shakespeare before and after school. At the end of one year, Frank’s students demonstrated over 1½ years of progress in reading and averaged over 80% mastery on math testing. During the summer of 2006, Frank traveled to Rwanda, to conduct research on post-genocide policies. Frank hopes to study Culture, Identity and Politics at Queen’s University Belfast. A native of Fargo, North Dakota, Scot Miller is both a Truman Scholar and a Morris Udall Scholar. He is currently a senior at Harvard, where he has been a tireless environmental activist and a fierce advocate for sustainability on Harvard’s campus. He is founder of a student organization called Students for Clean Energy, which successfully convinced the university to commit to renewable energy. As a direct result of his organization’s efforts, Harvard won the EPA’s Green Power Award in 2005. In recognition of his contributions at Harvard, the National Wildlife Federation awarded Scot a Campus Ecology Fellowship in 2006. Scot’s passion for the environment has led him as far as Tanzania, where he examined the effects of deforestation on one of Africa’s largest lakes and as close as the Massachusetts state house, where he led a campaign to advocate for a state public lands preservation bill. Scot will study Environmental Sciences at Trinity College Dublin next year. Jimmy Soni is a University Scholar at Duke University, where he is studying Ethics. He has won, among other awards, the 2006 Newhouse Prize for editorial column writing and leadership; is a 2006 John Kenneth Galbraith Scholar; and was selected to speak at the 2005 Duke convocation. He is the Vice-President of Academic Affairs for the Duke student government, co-chairman of Duke’s undergraduate judicial board, chairman of the university Honor Council, and co-founder of the Duke Political Union, an organization created to revive political debate on campus. He is the editor-in chief of Ethos, Duke’s undergraduate journal of ethics. He co-founded the Duke Leadership Academy, designed to teach at-risk youth about service and leadership, volunteers as a court-appointed guardian for abused and neglected children, and worked over the summer in the Governor’s Delinquency Program mentoring and tutoring at-risk students in and around the Durham community. Jimmy will pursue a master’s in Politics at University College Cork. Erin Stevens is a senior at the US Military Academy, and is the daughter of two West Point graduates. While at the Academy, she has been appointed to a number of leadership positions, including her current position as Brigade Deputy Adjutant overseeing more than 4000 army personnel. Her record of academic excellence has won her numerous awards, including the Distinguished Cadet Award, the Superintendent’s Award, and the Top Gun Award for superior military leadership. Erin is a varsity swimmer and just completed her first triathlon. She is an active volunteer with Special Olympics. In an institution where the majority of students are interested in engineering and computers, Erin has chosen a different path, electing to study Art, Philosophy and Literature. She is intensely committed to the concept of cultural preservation in situations of conflict as well as peace, and will study Cultural Policy and Arts Management at University College Dublin. Nathaniel Wright is an activist whose passion for human rights compelled him to stand up and take action to fight the genocide in Darfur. In 2004, while in his junior year at Georgetown University, Nate founded STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, to end the genocide in the Sudan. In just two years, under Nate’s leadership, STAND has grown to include over 500 university and high school chapters across the world. Mother Jones Magazine named Nate “student activist of the year,” and Reebok selected him as the first recipient of the Human Rights Young Activist Award, given to “young activists who, against great odds, have had a real impact on our world.” While at Georgetown, the Idaho native received numerous service and leadership awards, including the Katherine Kraft Medal, given to the student who best exemplifies Jesuit ideals. Nate served as vice-president of the Georgetown Student Government and was a founding member of GU Men Against Rape, an organization designed to raise awareness about sexual assault. He will study International Human Rights Law next year at the National University of Ireland Galway.

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Bentley Professor Joel Deichmann Receives 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar Grant Will Teach and Further Research on Foreign Direct Investment in Eastern Europe at Smolny College in Russia

Associate Professor of International Studies Joel Deichmann has received a 2007-2008 U.S. Fulbright Scholar grant, awarded yearly to U.S. citizens to lecture and conduct research abroad, and to foreign scholars to come to the United States primarily as researchers. Fulbright scholars are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and for having demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their field. Deichmann will travel to Russia from September 2007 through January 2008 to Smolny College in St. Petersburg. The first liberal arts college in Russia, Smolny is a joint enterprise of Bard College and Saint Petersburg State University. Deichmann will teach international studiescourses and participate in cultural exchange. He will also extend his research on foreign direct investment in Eastern Europe. "I feel strongly that my assignment will contribute positively to relations between Russia and the United States, both during the five months of my visit and in the future, especially given the opportunities that my career in education provides to facilitate cross-cultural understanding," says Deichmann, who has training as an economic geographer and interests in transforming economies of Eurasia. Deichmann has studied Russia for a long period of time, having grown up during the Cold War and monitored events in the Soviet Union and its successor states since his youth. During the 1990s, he studied the transformation in Central and Eastern Europe and chose those countries as the region of inquiry for his master's and PhD theses. "The need for Americans to understand Russia and build strong relationships there is particularly strong, as the Federation remains among the world's political and military superpowers and a country of great economic potential," he notes. The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) assists in the administration of the Fulbright Scholar Program for faculty and professionals. Each year, nearly 850 U.S. faculty and professionals travel abroad as traditional Fulbright Scholars. The Program operates in over 150 countries worldwide in order to promote "mutual understanding between people of the United States and people of other countries of the world." Bentley is a national leader in business education. Centered on education and research in business and related professions, Bentley blends the breadth and technological strength of a university with the values and student focus of a small college. Our undergraduate curriculum combines business study with a strong foundation in the arts and sciences. A broad array of offerings at the McCallum Graduate School emphasize the impact of technology on business practice, including MBA and Master of Science programs, PhD programs in accountancy and in business, and selected executive programs. Enrolling approximately 4,000 full-time undergraduate, 250 adult part-time undergraduate, and 1,270 graduate students, Bentley is located in Waltham, Mass., minutes west of Boston.

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SDSU Students & Faculty Receive Fulbright Scholar Grants for 2007-08

Three recent SDSU graduates and one faculty member at San Diego State University have received Fulbright Scholar grants for the 2007-2008 school year, the university announced today. Carey Galst, who received a master's degree in biology with a specialization in ecology from SDSU last month, will study at the Universidade do Vale do Itajai, in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Her Fulbright grant will allow her to conduct studies on reef habitat characteristics and the abundance and diversity of fish species in the southeastern region of Brazil. Yassar Arain will leave for the American University in Cairo, Egypt later this summer to research forced migration and refugee studies. Arrain's focus will be on the mental health of refugees. Arain graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He also received a special Fulbright award for intensive language study allowing him to spend an extra three months in Egypt to study Arabic. Another recent graduate, Krista Binova, who received a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in Spanish, has been awarded a U.S. Student Fulbright grant to teach English in Argentina. She will also study contemporary Argentine literature, focusing on authors that have not been published or translated in the U.S. "International programs are an academic strength of SDSU, and it is gratifying to that our students and faculty have been awarded these prestigious international grants," said SDSU Provost Nancy Marlin. "It is a reflection of our outstanding faculty and the quality of the educational experience at SDSU that our students are prepared to contribute on a global level in these critical fields of study." Frederick Conway, an assistant professor in SDSU's department of anthropology, has also received a Fulbright Scholar grant. He will teach courses on anthropology of development and on sustainable use of forest products at the Universidad Austral in Chile during the first half of 2008. He will also work with Center for Environmental Studies to research the use of fire wood, which is the primary source for heating in Chile. Conway hopes to teach Chileans how they can conserve their use of forest products in hopes of curbing the deforestation of the region. Since 2005, SDSU has had a total of ten students participate in the Fulbright Scholars Program. SDSU has had 43 faculty Fulbright Scholar recipients since 1993. SDSU's Fulbright program is operated through the office of international programs. The next cycle of U.S. Student Fulbright grants is open. The deadline to apply is Sept. 27, 2007. Interested students and alumni should see the website:  www.fulbrightonline.org and contact Dr. Pat Huckle, SDSU Fulbright Adviser at  huckle@mail.sdsu.edu. The Fulbright Scholars Program, the U.S. government's flagship program in international educational exchange, was proposed to the U.S. Congress in 1945 by then freshman Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. In the aftermath of World War II, Sen. Fulbright viewed the proposed program as a much-needed vehicle for promoting "mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world." His vision was approved by Congress and the program signed into law by President Truman in 1946. Fulbright grants are made to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program's inception, more than 250,000 participants - chosen for their leadership potential - have had the opportunity to observe each other's political, economic and cultural institutions. SDSU is the oldest and largest institution of higher education in the San Diego region. Founded in 1897, SDSU offers bachelor's degrees in 81 areas, master's degrees in 73 and doctorates in 16. SDSU's more than 34,000 students participate in academic curricula distinguished by direct faculty contact and an increasingly international emphasis that prepares them for a global future. For more information, visit www.sdsu.edu.

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