Six UW Students Study Abroad Under U.S. State Department Program

Six University of Wyoming students have been selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study or work as interns abroad during this academic year.

-- Colleen Cullinane, an elementary education major from Bethesda, Md., is participating in a bilateral exchange program at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.

-- Sadie Gruntmeir, a marketing and management major from Buffalo, is participating in the Council on International Educational Exchange Marketing Program in Barcelona, Spain.

-- Zachary Hunt, a history major from Laramie, is participating in the Kwansei Gakuin Contemporary Japan Program in Nishinomiya, Japan.

-- Schuyler Justesen, a psychology major from Green River, is participating in a bilateral exchange program at Kobe College in Nishinomiya, Japan.

-- Deborah Smith, a Spanish major from Rock Springs, is participating in the UW Chinese Language Intensive Study Program in China.

-- Katarina Tyler, a theater and dance major from Riverton, is participating in the UW London Semester.

The six UW students are among 844 American undergraduate students from 335 colleges and universities across the United States selected to receive Gilman scholarships this term. The congressionally funded Gilman Program broadens the U.S. student population studying and interning abroad by providing scholarships to outstanding undergraduate Pell Grant recipients who, due to financial constraints, might not otherwise study abroad.

Since the program’s establishment in 2001, over 1,300 U.S. institutions have sent more than 28,000 Gilman scholars who represent the rich diversity of the United States to 145 countries around the globe.

“The Gilman Program aims to make study abroad, and its career advantages, more accessible and inclusive for American students. These diverse American students gain critical skills overseas that expand their career options and ability to make an impact in their home communities,” says Heidi Manley, the chief of USA Study Abroad at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The Gilman Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and is supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education.