Two University of Oregon students have landed a prestigious scholarship to study areas critical to national security from abroad.
Alexander Payne and Benjamen DoVale have been selected as recipients of the prestigious David L. Boren Scholarship as part of the National Security Education Program. The scholarship will provide support for their participation in study abroad programs during the 2013-14 academic year.
Payne, a double major in economics and international studies, will study Arabic language, diplomacy and policy at the University of Jordan in Amman.
DoVale, a double major in Chinese and political science, will study Mandarin Chinese language at the University of Nanjing, as part of the Chinese Flagship Program capstone year abroad.
“In today's global society, national security is more than just military concerns. It's also the mitigation of complex challenges such as migration, sustainability, disease and economic development,” said Dennis Galvan, vice provost for International Affairs. “It is truly an honor that two of our students have been chosen to advance their studies in language and research areas that are critical to U.S. interests.”
The Boren Scholarship award is up to $10,000 for a semester program, $20,000 for a yearlong program, and $8,000 for a summer program. For the 2013-2014 cycle, there were 947 applicants from U.S. universities and 161 recipients.
At the University of Oregon, 20 percent of the applicants received the Boren Scholarship. In the past 10 years, the UO has had one to four Boren recipients every year.
The scholarship is awarded by the Institute of International Education on behalf of the national education program to enable students to study U.S. interests through immersion and intensive language study abroad programs.
Boren awards, scholarships and fellowships provide funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East.
- from UO International Affairs