For immediate release: May 14th, 2013
Sioux Falls Native Josh Waltjer receives a Prestigious place on a Fulbright Summer Institute to the UK
Sioux Falls Native Josh Waltjer has received a place on a Fulbright Summer Institute to study at Cardiff, Aberystwyth, and Bangor Universities on one of the most prestigious and selective summer scholarship programmes operating world-wide.
Created by treaty in 1948, the US-UK Fulbright Commission is the only bi-lateral, transatlantic scholarship programme, offering awards and summer programmes for study or research in any field, at any accredited US or UK University. The Commission is part of the Fulbright programme conceived by Senator J. William Fulbright in the aftermath of World War II to promote leadership, learning and empathy between nations through educational exchange. Award recipients and summer programme participants will be the future leaders for tomorrow and support the “special relationship” between the US and UK.
As a participant, Josh Waltjer has been selected from a strong applicant pool to experience the UK on a 6 week summer programme. Josh will be attending the Wales Fulbright Summer Institute, which is entitled “Contemporary Wales: Politics, Culture, Industry, and Change.”
Josh Waltjer hails from the pleasant city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he graduated from Roosevelt High School. At Roosevelt, Josh kept busy with cross country, track, theater, choir, National Honors Society (Treasurer) and student council. He is a National Merit Finalist and an AP scholar with Distinction. Josh is now a Cornhusker at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, where he is a Chancellor’s Scholar and a member of the Honors Program. He is following a pre-medicine track with a political science major and a business minor. At Nebraska, Josh has continued his involvement in choir despite his rapid voice change, and is also a member of the fraternity Beta Theta Pi, the Honors Program Student Advisory Board, STAC –Students Together Against Cancer, and several campus ministries. At the Wales Summer Institute, Josh hopes to experience the unique political system, culture, and geography of Wales while meeting many fantastic people.
Commenting on receiving the place, Josh said: “I am extremely honoured and very excited to have earned a place on the Wales Fulbright Summer Institute. Growing up in South Dakota, I have not had many opportunities to experience the culture of other nations. In Wales, I hope to become a more well-rounded individual through cultural immersion and the study of Welsh politics, culture, industry, and change at three top-notch Welsh Universities. I also expect to have fun and build life-long friendships during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”
The Commission selects participants through a rigorous application and interview process. In making these awards the Commission looks not only for academic excellence but a focused application, a range of extracurricular and community activities, demonstrated ambassadorial skills, a desire to further the Fulbright Programme and a plan to give back to the recipient’s home country upon returning.
Fulbright Summer Programmes cover all participant costs. In addition, Fulbright summer participants receive a distinctive support and cultural education programme including: visa processing, a comprehensive pre-departure orientation, enrichment opportunities in country, a re-entry session and opportunity to join our alumni networks.
Each year, the Commission supports around 50 UK and US undergraduate students to undertake a demanding academic and cultural summer programmes at leading institutions in the US and UK respectively. Nearly 300,000 extraordinary women and men from all over the world have had their lives changed as participants in the global Fulbright Programme. Of these alumni, approximately 15,000 UK nationals have studied in the US and nearly 12,000 US nationals in the UK on our educational exchange programmes.
Notable alumni of the US-UK Commission include: Malcolm Bradbury, novelist; Liam Byrne, politician; Milton Friedman, economist and Nobel Prize Winner 1976; Charles Kennedy, politician; John Lithgow, actor; Tarik O’Regan, composer; Sylvia Plath, poet; Lord William Wallace, politician; Ian Rankin, novelist; Sir Christopher Rose QC, judge; Baroness (Shirley) Williams, politician; Vanessa Heaney, journalist BBC World Service; and Toby Young, journalist and playwright.
The Commission is funded partially by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in the UK and the US Department of State, with additional support coming from a variety of individual and institutional partners.
