International Fellowship Recipients

2011-12 Summary
Total Fellowships: 49
Eligible Applicants: 1,220
Countries Represented by Applicants: 113
Total Awards: $978,000

International Fellowships are awarded for full-time study or research to women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Fellowships support graduate or postgraduate studies at accredited institutions. Recipients are selected for academic achievement and demonstrated commitment to women and girls. The overwhelming majority return to their home countries to become leaders in government, academia, community activism, the arts, and science.

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Originally designed to provide Latin American women with opportunities for graduate and postgraduate study in the United States, the International Fellowships program awarded its first fellowship in 1917 to Virginia Alvarez-Hussey, who studied medicine at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania and then returned to Venezuela, where she became a specialist in the treatment of leprosy.

AAUW expanded the International Fellowships program in 1945 to provide higher education opportunities to European women from countries devastated by Nazi domination during World War II. The program now includes women from around the world, and International Fellowships have been awarded to over 3,000 women from 135 nations.

International Fellows include Marina Nunez del Prado (1940), who became one of Bolivia's premiere artists. Her most famous work, Mother and Child, is part of the permanent collection at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

The 2011-2012 International Fellows strive to make a difference in the world through diverse fields. They are working in systems biology and population genetics, education reform, international human rights, reproductive health policy, human trafficking, and more.

AAUW would like to thank the following 2011 International Fellowships appointed and guest panelists: Sona Pancholy (MD), Panel Chair, law; Lisa Appedu (OK) health sciences; R. Victoria Arana (DC) literature; Shivaun Archer (NY) bioengineering; Shannon Bartelt-Hunt (NE) environmental engineering; Roberley Ann Bell (NY) art/art history; Robin Bernstein (TX) visual/performance art; Sujeeta Bhatt (VA) neuroscience; Jana Bouwma-Gearhart (KY) education; Beth Bullard (PA) musicology; Mariko Chang (MA) sociology; Laurie Connell (ME) ecology; Megan Fulcher (VA) psychology; Margaretha Geertsema (IN) journalism; Elena Guerzoni (CA) linguistics; Laura Hanson (TX) biology/immunology; Maria Hantzopoulos (NY) education; Patricia Hentosh (VA) biological sciences; Yi Jiang (IN) civil engineering; Shulamit Kahn (MA) economics; Emily Klein (NC) earth & ocean sciences; Stephen Knisley (VA) mechanical/aerospace engineering; Daniela Kraiem (DC) law; Irene Kuo (DC) public health; Lori Lynch (MD) economics; Katarzyna Marciniak (OH) cinema & media; Leticia Marteleto (TX) sociology; Lori Martin-Plank (PA) health sciences; Lisa Moon (DC) psychology; Rosemarie Park (MN) education; Dennis Peffley (AZ) biological sciences/genetics; Donald Poochigian (ND) philosophy; Marta Robertson (PA) musicology; Melinda Robins (MA) journalism; Sharmila Rudrappa (TX) sociology; Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz (NY) education; Lorna Seitz (CA) law; Loubna Skalli-Hanna (VA) international development; Ajantha Subramanian (MA) anthropology; Sandra Sydnor-Bousso (IN) business/marketing; Christine Trotter (IL) health sciences; Ivana Vucenik (MD) biomedical sciences; Kimberly Walker (MD) microbiology/immunology; Mark Daniel Ward (IN) mathematics; Stephanie Welcomer (ME) business management; Caren Yglesias (DC) architecture; Ning Zhang (NY) public health.