UNH Today

The Fulbright Program's mission is to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship.   — Sen. J. William Fulbright

Seven UNH students are part of a celebrated moment in the history of scholarships as 2021 marks the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright Program, signed into law in 1946 by President Harry S. Truman. The legislation was proposed by Sen. J. William Fulbright to help increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those in other countries.

Of the 20 UNH applicants this year, 14 were selected as semifinalists with five receiving Fulbright offers and two being named alternates to teach, study or conduct research abroad. Those receiving offers are Sawyer Cawthern ’21, Emma Danais ’20 ’21G, Danielle Johnson, Elizabeth Mamros and Samantha Sullivan ’21G and alternates Daniel Frehner ’21 and Emily Olivier ‘21G. Cawthern declined her offer; she will attend MIT next year in pursuit of a Ph.D. in chemistry. 

Emma Danais ’20 ’21G will be going to the Canary Islands in Spain in September to work as an English teaching assistant in an elementary school classroom, helping Spanish students learn English. This aligns with the master's degree the Center Tuftonboro, New Hampshire, resident is receiving in Spanish K-12 and elementary education. 

Elizabeth Mamros will travel to Dortmund, Germany, in August to conduct research at the Institut für  Umformtechnik und Leichtbau (IUL),  which is affiliated with TU Dortmund University. A third-year doctoral student in mechanical engineering, the Pennsylvania resident’s research will investigate manufacturing processes that can be utilized to create patient-specific parts with functionally graded materials. 

Samantha Sullivan ’21G will travel to Argentina to teach English in 

March 2022. A resident of Chester, New Hampshire, she will receive her master’s degree in secondary education with a certification in English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in May.

UNH Manchester graduate student Danielle Johnson '21G has been offered a Fulbright to work at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, also known as the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, in Amsterdam, where she will help first-year students in the English teacher preparation program improve their English and learn how to teach it. The Londonderry, New Hampshire, resident is getting her master's degree in secondary education with a focus on social studies and English language.

Alternate Daniel Frehner’s Fulbright application proposed spending a year in Morocco on a research grant conducting interviews and surveys with young Moroccans on their political views and their voting habits. A Dover, New Hampshire, resident, Frehner ’21 is a double major in history and economics.

Graduate student Emily Olivier ‘21G was also selected as an alternate. Her Fulbright application proposed travel to France to work as an English teaching assistant and facilitate a book recommendation list between an American and French library. The Durham, New Hampshire, resident is completing her master’s degree in elementary education. 

“Since the program’s inception, UNH applicants have responded to this opportunity for deep engagement with the people of other countries and cultures,” says Jeanne Sokolowski, director of UNH's Office of National Fellowships. “Our average number of applicants annually has doubled within the last decade, from five or six applicants a year to close to 20 in the last few cycles. To me, this signals students’ understanding and commitment to a globally connected world and UNH’s investment in preparing our graduates for that reality.”

In 1949, three years after the Fulbright program was signed into law, Ruth E. Winn became the first UNH student to receive an award.