ASPIRE

A record number of West Virginia University students have been named Fulbright Scholars this year, doubling the previous record of five.

Four West Virginia University students have been awarded the prestigious Boren Scholarship and will spend a year immersed in the language and culture of countries that have been identified as critical to U.S. interests

This summer, two West Virginia University students will study abroad as recipients of the highly competitive U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship. With the selection of Brandon Brown of South Charleston and Adam Craig of Wheeling, WVU will now have 30 students who have received this award since 2008.

Emma Harrison, a West Virginia University student who found her purpose through a college internship, has been awarded the Truman Scholarship, the country’s top award for students who aspire to careers in public service.

As a child in Texas, Rodney Elliott dreamed of going to college and studying science but it was a dream deferred because of family finances. He joined the Air Force and, after a 20-year career, enrolled at West Virginia University gaining accolades, not just from his professors, but by winning the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering—the Goldwater Scholarship.

A West Virginia University student passionate about enriching educational opportunities and resources for imprisoned people in West Virginia has been named a 2018 Newman Civic Fellow by the Campus Compact, the only national higher education association dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement.

Emma Harrison found her passion for expanding educational opportunities for imprisoned people in a West Virginia University class she shared with incarcerated men. That passion has led to her selection as a finalist for the prestigious Truman Scholarship, the premier award for those who are pursuing careers in public service.

When Dillon Muhly-Alexander became the first student from Doddridge County High School to be named a West Virginia University Foundation Scholar, it was because of the leadership and compassion he showed for others by creating a backpack program to supply food to at-risk children. Now he has another first for his already impressive resume—the first WVU student to be named a Gates-Cambridge Scholar.

Dillon Muhly-Alexander, a 2017 West Virginia University graduate, has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, an award that funds graduate study at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Muhly-Alexander, who was also a Rhodes finalist in 2017, is WVU’s first Gates Cambridge finalist.

A West Virginia University student with aspirations of becoming an anthropologist will spend the spring term in South Africa as a Gilman Scholar. London Orzolek, a junior majoring in anthropology and women’s and gender studies, is from Wheeling.