2025 UW Gilman Scholarship Recipients

The Education Abroad Office is thrilled to announce that five University of Wyoming students have received the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for Study Abroad. The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program is a grant program from the US Department of State which provides funding for students who are taking part in study abroad programs.

The goal of this program is to not only make study abroad more affordable and accessible, but to encourage students to study critical languages, to consider diverse and unique locations for study abroad, to discover their place in the world, and to become contributors to the international community.

The application process for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is highly competitive and requires hard work and dedication. Students must be Pell-grant recipients, and they must complete a rigorous application process. Part of the application process includes a community impact essay, where students must demonstrate how their study abroad experience will impact not only themselves and their academic/professional journey, but their larger home community (be it their hometown, home university, etc.) as well.

Students must also develop a comprehensive statement of purpose justifying their program of choice, and it is strongly recommended that they meet with UW Gilman Scholarship Advisors Dianne Thompson and Shelley Jewell.

The 2025 University of Wyoming Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship recipients are all current University of Wyoming students who are studying abroad during the 2025 Calendar year. Combined, the students received a total of $19,500 in scholarship funding towards their study abroad program.

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University of Wyoming recipients are:

Nicholis Williams - Cheyenne, Wyoming. Nick is a senior pursuing a B.F.A. in Visual Communication Design. He participated in the TEAN: Hanyang University Winter Program during the January term 2025. He studied in Seoul, South Korea. Through this program, Nick had the unique opportunity to take a course titled, “Designing the Future: Creativity with Generative AI”, in which the students practiced speculative design using research and generative AI tools. This was an incredibly beneficial opportunity for Nick, as this course was not available at the University of Wyoming.

“The Gilman Scholarship allowed me to pursue traveling abroad to South Korea. There I studied design practices and learned about contemporary principles like human centric design and embracing new approaches. With the Gilman Scholarship Program, I focused on learning about Korean culture and how the culture inspired the design practices and vice versa. I’m excited to be back and to imbue my own work with what I learned while in Seoul.” - Nicholis Williams

Phoenix Strobe - Cheyenne, Wyoming. Phoenix is a junior majoring in Design, Merchandising, & Textiles with a concentration in Interior Design. She is currently participating in a 2025 spring semester study abroad program in Florence, Italy at Lorenzo de' Medici, where she is completing courses toward her major. This is a “direct-enroll” program, which allows students to enroll directly at an institution abroad, and to transfer their courses back to the University of Wyoming upon completion.

Mason Mercier - Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. Mason is a junior majoring in Economics with a minor in Honors. He completed the UW faculty-led program “Buddhism in Thailand” during the January term 2025 to Bangkok, Thailand. This program is organized by UW Assistant Professor Kate Hartmann of the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies. Upon successful completion of this program, students earn 3 credits for HP 3154: Buddhism in Thailand.

Taniesha Smith - Riverton, Wyoming. Taniesha is a senior majoring in Marketing, Management, and Professional sales, and minoring in Hospitality Business Management. She completed the AIFS Abroad - European Art and Culture: January Study + Travel Program to three countries: France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. This program took place over 3 weeks in January of 2025.

Orlando Gonzalez Perez - Rock Springs, Wyoming. Orlando is a junior majoring in Physiology. He will participate in the UW faculty-led program “Faculty-Led: Honors: Modern Japanese Society and Culture” in summer 2025 to three cities in Japan. This program is organized by UW Assistant Lecturer Noah Miles of the Department of Modern & Classical Languages. Upon successful completion of this program, students earn 3 credits for HP 4151: Modern Japanese Society and Culture. Orlando was a recipient of the Gilman-McCain Scholarship for dependents of active-duty military members, and the supplemental Critical Need Language Award for studying Japanese.

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The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program awarded nearly 1,600 outstanding and diverse U.S. undergraduate students with scholarships to participate in study-abroad programs in more than 90 countries worldwide. The recipients represent over 500 U.S. colleges and all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

These awardees are supported by the UW Education Abroad Office and Global Engagement Office.