UC graduates among Fulbright scholars
11 July 2011
Two University of Canterbury graduates are among the latest students to be granted Fulbright scholarships to the United States.
At the recent Fulbright awards ceremony at Parliament are (from left) Claire Whelan, Dr Clemency Montelle, US Ambassador to New Zealand David Huebner, Julia Talbot-Jones and Executive Director of Fulbright New Zealand Mele Wendt.
Two University of Canterbury graduates are among the latest students to be granted Fulbright scholarships to the United States.
Julia Talbot-Jones (GradDipEcon, 2010) and Claire Whelan (BA, 2002) were among 22 Fulbright New Zealand Graduate Award recipients announced at the annual Fulbright awards ceremony held at Parliament recently.
Fulbright awards allow New Zealanders and Americans to study, research, teach and present their work in each other’s countries. Recipients are selected on academic excellence, leadership potential and ambassadorial qualities.
Julia will complete a Master of Arts degree in environmental economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, specialising in valuing water resources.
Claire will complete a Master of Science degree in health policy and management. She will specialise in the use of data to assist decision-making and improve healthcare quality.
The event was also attended by Dr Clemency Montelle (Mathematics and Statistics) in her capacity as UC on-campus Fulbright representative and regional co-ordinator of the Fulbright Alumni Association.
US Ambassador to New Zealand David Heubner said “[the programme’s founder] Senator J. William Fulbright believed, as I do, that people-to-people exchanges are the best forms of diplomacy, that the best way of building mutual respect and understanding is to send people abroad to form their own conclusions, and that if we just put enough smart, open-minded young people together the world would become a better place”.
The ceremony also recognised the recipients of Fulbright Scholar Awards, among them UC academics Dr Chris Gallavin (Law), Dr David Small (Educational Studies and Human Development) and Dr Veronica O’Toole (Educational Studies and Human Development).
Dr Gallavin taught a course on New Zealand's constitutional structure and international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, in their spring 2011 semester. Dr Small will teach a course at Georgetown University on the transformation of New Zealand society over the past 30 years during the university's fall 2011 semester.
Dr O'Toole is researching the development of an emotional literacy programme for New Zealand educators and students at Yale University in Connecticut and Wichita State University in Kansas.
For more information please contact:
communications@canterbury.ac.nz
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