Fulbright scholarships awarded

Four Massey University graduates were among 22 people awarded Fulbright scholarships at an event in Wellington last week.

The announcement was made during the annual Fulbright awards ceremony at parliament, which was hosted by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murray McCully, and attended by 250 alumni and supporters of the Fulbright exchange programme.

Fulbright awards are for New Zealanders and Americans to study, research, teach and present their work in each other’s countries. Grant recipients are selected for academic excellence, leadership potential and ambassadorial qualities.

United States ambassador David Huebner, says “[The programme’s founder] Senator J. William Fulbright believed, as I do, that people-to-people exchanges are the best forms of diplomacy, that the best way of building mutual respect and understanding is to send people abroad to form their own conclusions, and that if we just put enough smart, open-minded young people together the world would become a better place”.

Fulbright-Ministry of Science and Innovation Graduate Awards:

Sara Burgess from Palmerston North will research the link between endospore production and biofilm formation by thermophilic bacilli, at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, towards a PhD from Massey University. Sara graduated with a BSc from the University of Otago in 2001 and an MSc from Massey University in 2006.

Kate Holland from Palmerston North will complete a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology, specialising in infectious disease epidemiology, at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Kate graduated with a BBS in 2010 and a BSc (Hons) in 2011 from Massey University.

Fulbright New Zealand General Graduate Awards:

Frances Moore from Auckland will complete an Artist Diploma in Operatic Directing, specialising in the impact of cinematic technologies in the performance of opera today, at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Frances graduated with a BA and a BMus from Victoria University of Wellington in 2007 and an MMus from the New Zealand School of Music in 2010.

Fulbright-Harkness New Zealand Fellowship:

Professor Glenda Anthony from Palmerston North will research ways of training mathematics teachers to engage in ambitious teaching, at the University of Washington in Seattle. Glenda is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Massey University.