The Mitchell Scholarship program sends future American leaders to Ireland for a year of graduate study and is one of Ireland’s most significant scholarship programs. The US-Ireland Alliance announced in November that Kessler, who will graduate in spring 2022 with an individualized major degree, was one of 12 chosen out of 351 applications for the class of 2023.

“I owe a lot of credit to the academic and co-curricular experiences I’ve had at UofL, the way that campus yields itself to having an entrepreneurial spirit, and to those who have helped my growth as a scholar who believes in the importance of harnessing the power of ideas to solve problems in the real world,” Kessler said.

The Mitchell Scholarship is one of the three “Big Brit” awards that also include the Rhodes Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship. Kessler, of Campbellsville, Kentucky, plans to attend University College Dublin, where he will study public policy with a goal of tackling climate policy challenges behind sustainable development in natural resources and energy. He will graduate from UofL in May with a bachelor of science in applied geography and an individualized liberal studies bachelor’s of art in public policy and environmental mitigation.

Kessler has been recognized for developments in water sampling with the Kentucky Institute for the Environment & Sustainable Development and holds a patent pending with the U.S. Geological Survey. Another of Kessler’s interests has been in renewable energy, and he has worked with the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research in the J.B. Speed School of Engineering to research using peat moss as a lower-carbon energy source.

He co-founded UofL’s first peer-reviewed journal for undergraduate student research and founded a nonprofit public-policy think tank that helped draft a bill related to the environmental economics of Kentucky’s bourbon industry.

“Sam’s intellectual breadth and indefatigable energy make him stand out in any crowd,” said Bethany Smith of UofL’s office of national and international scholarships. “I’m proud of all he has accomplished and delighted to see the Mitchell Scholarship recognize, and invest in, his potential to do even more.”

Kessler is the university’s second-ever Mitchell Scholar. The first was in 2017.

Manuela’s Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship is one of nine Fulbright awards won by UofL graduates or graduate students for 2021-22. The 2019 graduate, who has a bachelor of arts in biology, is headed to Belgium, where her sister traveled on a Fulbright research scholarship last year.ĚýThe sisters grew up in Lexington.

Ěý“I feel so honored to have the chance to be a part of students’ educational journeys and help them to strengthen their understanding of the English language, which will in no doubt open even more doors for them,” Manuela said. “I’m also excited to engage with the Belgian community and then learn more about the Belgian Congo, as it relates to my Congolese identity.”

Since 2003, UofL has produced 150 Fulbright winners, more than all other Kentucky higher education institutions combined.

In addition, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, given to one college junior in Kentucky each year, was awarded to UofL student Lexi Raikes in April.

“The winners of these prestigious scholarships will have opportunities abroad that will change their lives and promote international understanding,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “These students are the best of the best, and I am awestruck by their hard work and dedication to furthering their education. I also thank our staff members who helped these students win these opportunities.”

The other Fulbright winners are:

• Shakeyrah Elmore, of Columbus, Ohio, who will study postpartum depression in Jamaican women at the University of the West Indies Caribbean Institute for Health Research in Kingston, Jamaica. She is a graduate student in the School of Public Health and Information Sciences.
• Claire Gothard, of Louisville, who earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Morocco.
• Macey Higdon, of Owensboro, Kentucky, who earned a graduate award to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, in biology of physical activity.
• Kyle Landis, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Madrid, Spain.
• Rolandson Le, of Louisville, who earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Taiwan.
• Madeline McCloud, of Worthington, Kentucky, who also earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Taiwan.
• Reagan Miller, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, who earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Morocco.
• Hannah White, of Eddyville, Kentucky, who earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Galicia, Spain.

The Fulbright Program, administered by the Department of State’s Bureau of łÉČËÖ±˛Ąal and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.

Other students awarded prestigious academic scholarships are:

Isabella Martin—Boren Scholarship. She plans to study Russian in Estonia. Boren Scholarships, sponsored by the National Security łÉČËÖ±˛Ą Program, provide undergraduate and graduate students up to $25,000 to study abroad in languages and regions of interest to U.S. national security.

Will Randolph—English Speaking Union-Kentucky Branch Scholarship. He will use the award this summer to study modern Scottish at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland. The English-Speaking Union of the United States is a non-profit, non-political, educational service organization whose mission is to promote scholarship and the advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community.

Liz Turner—Mary Churchill Humphrey Scholarship. Liz, a May 2021 graduate with bachelor’s degrees in political science and Spanish, will pursue a master’s degree at Aga Khan University in London, United Kingdom.

Madeline Martinez—Delta Scholars Program. This program is for students who attend college in the Mississippi Delta region who are interested in community service and social justice. Madeline, a sophomore nursing major, will attend a 10-day summer program at Mississippi State University and a five-day fall program at Harvard University.

More on these scholars can be found online here.Ěý