Topics: Alumni, College of Architecture and Planning, College of Communication Information and Media, College of Fine Arts, College of Sciences and Humanities, Honors College, Scholarships, Sustainability/Environment, Teachers College

August 21, 2014

During the 2013-14 academic year, Ball State University students and recent alumni won 19 national scholarships and/or fellowships. They include:

  • Luke Schmid, recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship, a $7,500 scholarship considered the nation's top undergraduate award for students aiming toward careers in mathematics, science or engineering with a focus on research. Schmid is an Honors College senior with majors in pre-medicine and cell and molecular biology and a minor in chemistry.
  • Colin Hart was the university's first theater major to win the Udall Scholarship, a $5,000 award given to 50 undergraduates nationwide to recognize their commitment to studying environmental or tribal issues. He is an Honors College senior studying theater and sustainability.

• Four recipients, all May 2014 graduates, received Fulbright U.S. Student Grants to support study and teaching opportunities in Malaysia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Hungary during the 2014-15 academic year. These students are:

  • Taylor Byrd, who completed a degree in English language arts education and received an English Teaching Assistantship to Malaysia, where she will begin teaching in January 2015.
  • Meghan Reidy, an Honors College graduate, received an English Teaching Assistantship to Germany, where she will teach grades 5-12 in the town of Erkner.
  • Matthew Smith, who completed a degree in political science and history and will complete a master of arts in public policy at the University of Warwick in the U.K.
  • Hannah Turner, who completed a degree in mathematics and will study in Hungary at the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Program.
  • Amon Rizvi, recipient of a Critical Language Scholarship, which covered costs for a two-month long visit to India to study spoken and written Urdu. The scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. State Department and promotes the study of languages considered critical to U.S. security. Rizvi is a junior studying journalism and telecommunications news.
  • Denise Blankenberger, recipient of a Cultural Vistas Fellowship, which allowed her to spend eight weeks interning in Singapore over summer 2014. She is the first Ball State student to win the fellowship, offered annually to 12 U.S. undergraduates. Blankenberger is an Honors College junior majoring in architecture.
  • Emily Schebler, an Honors College sophomore and recipient of the U.K. Fulbright Summer Institute Scholarship, which afforded her studies in educational programming at three Welsh universities over summer 2014. Schebler is majoring in political science and legal studies.

• Seven recipients of the Gilman Scholarship, a federally funded program that provides up to $5,000 to U.S. undergraduates pursuing academic studies abroad. They are:

  • Justin Jovceski, a junior majoring in Japanese, who will spend his 2014-15 academic year in Japan as an exchange student at Tokyo Gakugei University.
  • Austin Acel, a junior majoring in French and professional sales, who spent summer 2014 studying in Chambery, France.
  • Sarah Fischer, an Honors College student majoring in biology and art, who spent summer 2014 conducting an independent research project in Iceland.
  • Katherine Garibay, an English secondary education major, who spent summer 2014 studying in China with the Kentucky Institute of International Studies (KIIS).
  • Christine Johnson, a landscape architecture major, also spent summer 2014 studying in China with the Kentucky Institute of International Studies (KIIS).
  • Ellie Komoda, who spent spring 2014 studying at the University of Malta. A general studies major, Komoda speaks four languages fluently.
  • Hailey Rice, a recent graduate of the exceptional needs and severe interventions teaching program who spent spring 2014 teaching at a U.S. Air Force base in Germany.

• Two recipients, both May 2013 graduates, were recognized by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship program, which supports outstanding students pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics at U.S. institutions. They are:

  • Jeffrey Dick, who majored in chemistry at Ball State and is now a PhD student in electrochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin.
  • Dustin Owen, who majored in biology as an undergraduate and is a graduate student in ecology at Austin Peay State University.

• Morgan Ulyat, received the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship, a $5,000 award to support her graduate studies at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. The honor society awards the fellowship to 51 of its members entering their first year of postgraduate study. Ulyat is a May 2014 graduate and Honors College student who majored in music (voice performance) and plans to pursue further vocal training in Europe and a career in opera performance.

By Gail Werner, Media Strategist