CU Boulder students Carli Brucker, Jakki Davison and Keira Hook have been named Fulbright finalists for the 2021鈥�22 academic year by听the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
The finalists will study, conduct research or teach abroad in the following countries: Brucker, Indonesia; Davison, Taiwan; Hook, Argentina.
Carli Brucker
Jakki Davison
Keira Hook
CU also has two alternates, Ben Friedman and Rafael Orozco Leon, who may be promoted to finalist if additional funding becomes available. Friedman is an English teaching assistant alternate who would travel to Germany, and Orozco Leon is an alternate for the听global and international studies master鈥檚 degree program at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain.
鈥淚n a year when Fulbright saw the most competitive cycle of applications in its history, and when there鈥檚 still so much uncertainty in the world, I鈥檓 particularly proud of our Fulbright finalists,鈥澨齭aid Deborah Viles, director of the Office of Top Scholarships. 鈥淭heir applications signal courage, compassion听and vision. They are well-suited to be the strong citizen-diplomats Fulbright envisions.鈥�
The Fulbright is the U.S. government鈥檚 flagship international educational exchange program and has given more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas听and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.听
The program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations听and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.
Award recipients are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, and their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.听
Carli Brucker
Brucker is a third-year doctoral student in the Hydrology, Water Resources, and Environmental Fluid Mechanics program.
She will travel to Indonesia to help develop hydrologic models on听the Island of Java, with the goal of improving flood prediction efforts. She鈥檚 excited to have the opportunity to live in Indonesia and to deeply immerse herself in the culture, learning about Indonesian food, language, sports听and traditions.
Jakki Davison
Originally from Miami,听Davison believes policy and education is her path to helping create a sustainable听environment. After spending one day in Taipei, Taiwan, she became deeply intrigued by the rich and complicated history of Taiwan.
During her Fulbright experience, she hopes to explore the intersection of politics, education听and environment with her students. She earned a听master's degree in environmental policy from CU Boulder听and a听bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas听Austin. She is currently a legislative aide at the Colorado House of Representatives.
Keira Hook
Hook is graduating with a double major in international affairs and secondary Spanish education. While at CU, she enjoyed teaching English through the SWAP program, participating in Model United Nations, working as a peer advisor in the Education听Abroad office听and attending swing dances.听
She will be student teaching next fall while听completing her teaching license, before heading to Argentina to assistant teach English to Argentine university students. Outside the classroom she is also planning to conduct research on the history of immigration in Argentina. Her goals are to sample mat茅, the traditional tea, as well as dulce de leche, and bring back as much knowledge of Argentine culture as possible to her future Spanish classroom.
Apply now
The Fulbright 2022鈥�23 application is now open. Interested students should contact Deborah Viles at听viles@colorado.edu听for information and assistance with the application. The campus deadline to apply is Sept. 9.
