Fourteen University of Nebraska–Lincoln students or recent graduates have been named semifinalists for the 2021-22 Fulbright U.S. Student Program by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Final selection will be later this spring.

The university has also been named a top-producing institution for student Fulbrights for the 2020-21 academic year. Learn more.

Applications were due last October. Over 11,000 applications were received by the Institute of International Education for review by national screening committees. Since each country releases its selections at different times, the final status of an application may be released any time between February and May. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the selection in that some of the students listed were awarded Fulbrights in 2020-21 and were asked to reapply for this round.

The Fulbright award supports study, research and teaching English abroad for about 10 months. Recipients are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is the Fulbright Program’s sponsor. IIE administers the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the State Department.

The Husker students who have been named semifinalists are:

• Saadi Al Saadi Bualaq. The senior global studies major from Lincoln has applied for a master’s program in political science at France’s Institut d’études politiques de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Sciences Po Saint Germain), an institute attached to Université de Cergy-Pontoise (CY Cergy).
• Sitti Azizah. The senior advertising and public relations major from Lincoln has applied to be an English Teaching Assistant in Timor-Leste.
• Davide Bergo. The senior global studies major from Lincoln has applied to teach English in Indonesia.
• Michaela Brown. The Overland Park, Kansas, native is a senior English major and University Honors Program member. She has applied to teach English in Colombia.
• Christopher Etheredge. The Lincoln native is a master’s student in German studies. He has applied to be an English Teaching Assistant in Germany.
• Eric Hanzel. A senior nutrition and health sciences major from Columbus, he is preparing for a public health career. He has applied to teach English in Spain.
• Cole Kovarik. The Kearney native is a senior global studies and Spanish major and Honors Program member. He hopes to attend the Global Governance and Social Theory program at the University of Bremen in Germany.
• Emma Mantel. The Shawnee, Kansas, native is a senior criminology and criminal justice major. She plans to be an English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia.
• Madeline Maschka. The Lincoln native graduated last May with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. She was also in the Honors Program. Maschka received the Fulbright to be an English Teaching Assistant in Spain for 2020-21 and has reapplied. While awaiting notification from Fulbright, Madeline traveled to Spain in January to begin teaching and is currently there.
• Adriana Miller. The Lincoln native is a senior sociology and psychology major and Honors Program member. She had taken Chinese through the Confucius Institute and is interested in bilingualism. She has applied to teach English in Taiwan.
• Roni Miller. The Crete native is a senior Spanish and political science major and Honors Program member. She has applied to teach English in Colombia.
• Molly Sambol. The senior English language arts major from Omaha has applied to teach English in South Korea.
• Erika Swenson. The Blair native is a senior fisheries and wildlife major and Honors Program member. She proposed a research project to study bird diversity at the Waterberg Conservancy in Namibia.
• Rose Wehrman. The Kenesaw native graduated last May with a bachelor’s degree in English. She was also in the Honors Program. Wehrman was accepted last year to teach English in Bulgaria and has reapplied. She is a certified English language instructor.

The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the United States and other countries. The program operates in over 160 countries worldwide. Learn more.

The program is administered at Nebraska through Laura Damuth, director of national and international fellowships. For more information on applying for this program or other national and international scholarships and fellowships, contact Damuth at ldamuth1@unl.edu.