{"id":98872,"date":"2025-07-28T08:10:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T08:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/98872\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T08:10:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T08:10:11","slug":"meet-six-fulbright-grant-recipients-from-penn-hoping-to-explore-the-world-through-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/98872\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet six Fulbright grant recipients from Penn hoping to \u2018explore the world\u2019 through research"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Nineteen Penn students and alumni have received Fulbright grants for the 2025-26 academic year.<\/p>\n

Nineteen Penn students and alumni have received grants from the Fulbright United States Student Program for the 2025-26 academic year to pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English in a host country.\n<\/p>\n

The Fulbright Program<\/a>, sponsored by the Department of State, awards grants to students to foster global academic exchange. This year\u2019s recipients<\/a> include six members of Penn\u2019s Class of 2025, three graduate students, and 10 alumni who were selected to receive full funding for international study, research, or teaching for up to 12 months.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

Each year, approximately 8,000 students from around the world are awarded grants. Students must have completed a bachelor\u2019s degree prior to the start of their grant period to be eligible for funding.\n<\/p>\n

The 2025-26 Fulbright recipients from Penn hail from a range of academic backgrounds, spanning mathematics, biology, and religious studies \u2014 along with expertise in housing policy and foreign politics.\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with six Penn affiliates set to travel and study internationally as part of the program.\n<\/p>\n

2025 College graduate Henry McDaniel majored in Russian and East European studies and diplomatic history at Penn. He was offered a Fulbright grant to teach English in Moldova at Ion Creanga High School of Alecu Russo State University.\n\t<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Russian and East European studies major, during the war in Ukraine, my options to live and study in the region were limited,\u201d McDaniel told the DP. \u201cI always had my eye on Fulbright to do exactly that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

McDaniel chose Moldova in particular given its current political climate and the country\u2019s bid for membership in the European Union.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like a really exciting time to be in a post-Soviet country that\u2019s determining its future in moving westward or eastward,\u201d McDaniel added.\n<\/p>\n

In addition to his interest in Moldova\u2019s post-Soviet transition, McDaniel is excited to interact with both his students and the local community to learn about how opinions on the country\u2019s future vary across generations.\n<\/p>\n

2025 College graduate Timothy Lie earned both a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree in biology from Penn. Through the Fulbright Program, Lie plans to conduct research at Universitas Indonesia that focuses on the mitochondria\u2019s function and its effects on dengue, a mosquito-borne illness.\n<\/p>\n

At Penn, Lie was involved in COVID-19 research at the Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia. He described the Fulbright Program as an opportunity to expand his research on other diseases worldwide in an interview with the DP.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Indonesia and always heard stories from my mom about how dengue took my uncle\u2019s life and so many other lives in my community,\u201d Lie said. \u201cI wanted to give back in some way.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Lie emphasized his desire to connect two cultures as an academic ambassador for the United States. As an aspiring physician, Lie also told the DP that the grant will help build his research skills and improve his proficiency in the Indonesian language \u2014 a skill he hopes to bring to patient care.\n<\/p>\n

Claire Elliot \u2014 a current doctoral student in Penn\u2019s religious studies department \u2014 was also awarded a Fulbright grant for the 2025-2026 academic year. Elliot will travel to Thailand to continue her dissertation on contemporary dreaming practices in Theravada Buddhism.\n<\/p>\n

In high school, Elliot studied abroad in Thailand, where she was first exposed to contemporary Buddhism. She earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in religious studies at Penn in 2017, before traveling to Sri Lanka to research the circulation of Buddhist ideology as part of a master\u2019s program at Cornell.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you study abroad, there\u2019s a honeymoon phase and then a crash,\u201d Elliot told the DP. \u201cBut with Fulbright, I can be in Thailand for ten months, get past both phases, and experience life as usual.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Elliot called the grants an expression of \u201csoft power politics,\u201d given its role in fostering relationships between governments.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some ways, you\u2019re going to be the American people think of because you\u2019re the American they\u2019ve met,\u201d Elliot continued. \u201cIt\u2019s inevitable that you become a sort of representative.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

2025 College graduate Elan Roth \u2014 who will travel to Canada to research mathematics at the University of Waterloo \u2014 also emphasized his role as a cultural ambassador in an interview with the DP.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to share my genuine experience being an American citizen,\u201d Roth said. \u201cI\u2019m also looking forward to exploring the relationship between America and Canada and what that will look like over the next few years.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

At Penn, Roth studied mathematical logic with a minor in religious studies. He described the Fulbright Program as \u201can awesome opportunity\u201d to continue his research, while also \u201cbeing able to explore the world.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Roth plans to use his Fulbright grant as a stepping stone to a Ph.D. in mathematics or computer science.\n<\/p>\n

2025 College graduate Leo Biehl will use his grant to travel to Austria to study international housing policy and teach English. Biehl noted his hope to explore Vienna\u2019s approach to reducing homelessness in an interview with the DP.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cVienna is regarded as a model for cities across the world and I think it could offer lessons for confronting the housing crisis in the United States,\u201d Biehl said. \u201cI also hope my Fulbright in Vienna will help me gain an understanding of how an innovative housing policy could be applied to the United States.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

While at Penn, Biehl studied both urban studies and political science, and pursued a minor in German. He credits Penn\u2019s urban studies department with exposing him to housing issues in Philadelphia and globally.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to enter a career in shaping policy and use the lessons of my experience,\u201d he continued.\n<\/p>\n

Biehl also expressed an excitement about joining a Viennese soccer team, exploring the city\u2019s public transit system, and connecting with his Austrian colleagues and classmates.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Another member of Fulbright\u2019s 2025-26 cohort, Aleena Parenti \u2014 who graduated from the College this year with degrees in linguistics and Chinese \u2014 plans to teach English in Taiwan.\n<\/p>\n

Parenti, who is from rural Pennsylvania, highlighted the \u201cunique\u201d aspects of her identity that she first picked up on as a student at Penn.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much more of a cultural divide than I had thought,\u201d Parenti said. \u201cBeing from rural America is a unique perspective, and I\u2019m not sure how many people from other countries come in contact with that. I really want to take that with me to Taiwan.\u201d\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\tSign up for our newsletter<\/p>\n

Get our newsletter, DP Daybreak, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.<\/p>\n

Parenti\u2019s decision to apply to the program came after receiving support from her peers and professors at Penn. She hopes to earn a master\u2019s degree and pursue a career as an English teacher.\n<\/p>\n

Funding for future Fulbright grants has faced uncertainty after 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump canceled nearly 200 scholarships awarded to American professors and researchers. In June, all 12 members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned<\/a> due to the cancellations.\n<\/p>\n

In its resignation statement<\/a>, the board expressed concerns that the State Department\u2019s actions are \u201cunlawful and damage the integrity of this storied program and America\u2019s credibility abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation<\/a> to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.<\/p>\n

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