AU Alumni Update

December 2005

 

ALUMNI NEWS


Recent Grads Earn Prestigious Honors

Natalie Hand, SIS/BA '04
Natalie Hand, SIS/BA '04, winner of the Marshall Scholarship

Two recent AU alums received top honors this year. Natalie Hand, SIS/BA '04, was granted the Marshall Scholarship, and Monica Wells, SIS/MA '05, was awarded the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Fellowship.

Hand was awarded the prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study in the United Kingdom after founding the Institute for Kurds. She received a seed grant of $200,000 to provide a media outlet and fund-raising presence for Kurds in the United States. She also won the Provost’s Outstanding Academic Achievement Award at the undergraduate level. Hand graduated summa cum laude from the School of International Service in 2004 after studying in the University Honors Program and serving as captain of the AU volleyball team. She also won a Boren Scholarship and was the first female exchange student to study at the American University of Sharjah. The long-time student of Arabic will complete a doctorate in international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

Monica Wells, SIS/MA '05
Monica Wells, SIS/MA '05, winner of the Fulbright Fellowship

Monica Wells, who will become a member of our alumni community this month with the completion of her master's degree from the School of International Service, was awarded the 2005 Canada-U.S. Fulbright Fellowship. Wells is using her fellowship to research the home-schooling movement in the African American community. She's conducting her research at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, part of the University of Toronto.

“Monica Wells is carrying out research on a topic which will provide valuable insights on differences and similarities between the United States and Canada,” said Louis W. Goodman, dean of the School of International Service.

Congratulations to both of these outstanding women!

—Sally Acharya and Mary Mazzuca

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