Thirty-seven Fulbright Awardees were officially announced at an event on MS The World, which was sponsored by a US Fulbright alumnus, Dr Jack Pinkowski and his wife Monica Pinkowski, as part of The Gathering on July 12. Since 1957, the Fulbright Awards are given annually by the Irish and US governments and provide Irish students, scholars, and professionals with the opportunity to study, lecture, and research at top universities and institutions throughout the United States.
Among the 37 awardees were two winners from Swinford and Castlebar in Co. Mayo. Sharon Ansboro is a PhD candidate in Regenerative Medicine at the National University of Ireland, Galway. A Swinford native, Sharon will research alternative cell therapy approaches for the treatment of osteoarthritis while on her Fulbright Student Award at the University of Rochester.
Dr Dympna Devine is a senior lecturer in Education at University College Dublin and director of the UCD Social Sciences Research Centre. She has recently been appointed as chair and Professor of Education at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and will take up the position in September. Originally from Castlebar, she is a Fulbright Scholar to the City University of New York, where she will evaluate educational policy and practice with migrant children in New York.
This year’s other Fulbright awardees, from 14 Irish higher educational institutions, will travel to the four corners of America on their awards, from Rice University in Texas to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and from Georgetown University in Washington DC to Oregon State University.
Speaking at the launch of this year’s Fulbright Awards, Mr Patrick McDermott, chair of the Fulbright Commission Board, said: “Year after year, the Fulbright Awards attract Ireland’s top researchers, professionals, and graduates. With the breadth and expertise seen in this year’s winners I know that these current and future leaders will gain invaluable experience that they can share upon their return to Ireland.”
The next round of applications for Irish Fulbright awardees will open on Wednesday, August 28, 2013. Interested applicants in all disciplines are encouraged to visit the Fulbright Commission’s website, www.fulbright.ie, for more information. All applications for the 2014-2015 academic year will be due on Wednesday, November 13, 2013.
