Claremont, Calif. (February 24, 2021)—For the 13th consecutive year, Pitzer College is a top producer of 2020-21 Fulbright US Student Program awardees among liberal arts colleges, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Last year, the Chronicle cited Pitzer as one of only nine baccalaureate institutions that have been top producers of Fulbright US students every year for the past 10 years. The streak continues.
This year, the Chronicle ranked four of Claremont’s five undergraduate colleges as top producers among liberal arts colleges for 2020-21 Student Fulbright awards. Along with Pitzer’s 10 awardees, Pomona had nine, followed by Scripps (6) and Claremont McKenna (5). This year, with in-person fellowships on hold for now due to the pandemic, the 2020-21 Fulbright data reflect the total number of awards offered, rather than the number of awards accepted, as in past years.
Ultimately, however, it’s not about the stats, it’s about the students and recent Pitzer graduates who wow the Fulbright US Student Program year after year with the depth of their knowledge, the breadth of their interests, and their passion for intellectual and intercultural exchange, says Nigel Boyle, the founding director of the Institute for Global/Local Action & Study (IGLAS), which oversees Pitzer’s Office of Fellowships & Scholarships.
“Relative to our size, Pitzer students continue to win Fulbrights at a higher rate than students at any other institution,” says Boyle, who is a two-time Fulbright winner himself, most recently in 2019. “This is because (a) they tend to have had very distinctive educational experiences, such as immersive study abroad programs or inside-out classes at a prison, and (b) applying for Fulbrights is ‘in the culture’ at Pitzer—rising seniors know students in previous classes who applied for and won Fulbrights, and the baton gets passed on from one class to another.”
Pitzer College’s ten 2020-21 Student Fulbright awardees are: Natalie Armstrong ’20, Kai Bidell ’20, Haley Burger ’20, Priscilla Cobian-Perez ’16, Eliana Cowan ’20, August Kahn ’20, Esme Kline ’19, Megan Schmiesing ’20, Emily Sender ’20, and Simone Wolynski ’20. Please click here to read more about their Fulbright awards and plans. Pitzer Professor of Psychology Mita Banerjee, the former interim director of IGLAS, served as this Fulbright cohort’s faculty advisor. Sandy Hamilton, the associate director of Pitzer’s Office of Fellowships and Scholarships, also advised the Fulbright applicants and spent hours working with them on their multi-part applications.
The Fulbright US Student Program is the largest exchange program in the US, offering research, study, and teaching opportunities in more than 140 countries to outstanding seniors and recent graduates. Each year, the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces the top-producing institutions for the Fulbright Program, and the lists are published annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
