Fulbright success and global reach

�ճ����, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange initiative, remains a cornerstone of UofL’s global success with over 180 scholars, the most of any Kentucky institution.��

This year, four UofL students earned Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards, with an additional three named alternates:

Fulbright recipients include:

• Isabella Bastien ’26, College of Arts & Sciences, will study and research in Australia.��
• Wisal El Majbri ’26, College of Business, will teach English in Taiwan.��
• Hannah Limbong ’26, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, will teach English in Indonesia.
• Chris Millett, College of ����ֱ�� & Human Development PhD candidate and School of Music faculty, will study and research in Norway.��

Fulbright alternates include Adeola Esan, Grace McDaniel and Henny Ransdell.��

Historic firsts��

This year also brought historic milestones for UofL in other global awards.��

Richard Wilson ’21, ’22, J.B. Speed School of Engineering, earned a Schwarzman Scholarship,��. The Schwarzman Scholars program prepares global leaders through study in China and engagement with international affairs.

Henny Ransdell ’21, ’25, College of Arts & Sciences, was named as a Luce Scholar and is the first recipient from UofL and the first from any Kentucky institution.��

Ransdell, who has also earned a Fulbright Award and a Princeton in Asia Fellowship, will participate in the highly competitive, yearlong Luce Scholars Program, which provides immersive professional experiences in Asia through individualized placements. Selected from across the United States, the 2026–2027 cohort represents a diverse range of disciplines and emerging leaders.��

Other prestigious awards

Darini Nagarajan, College of Arts & Sciences, was awarded The Goldwater Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes U.S. sophomores and juniors pursuing research careers in math, science and engineering, and is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields.��

Joshua Schmidt, J.B. Speed School of Engineering, was named a recipient of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, a year-long professional fellowship funded by the German Bundestag, the country’s parliament, and the U.S. Congress. For over 40 years, the��CBYX��program has provided participants the opportunity to study and work in Germany.��

Alexis Daniel ’24, ‘25, College of Arts & Sciences and Kent School of Social Work, will study Portuguese in Brazil as part of the Boren Awards, a program that funds up to one year of immersive study abroad in languages and regions of interest to U.S. national security.

Haider Nasir, College of Arts & Sciences, was selected for the Mary Churchill Humphrey Scholarship. This specialized UofL scholarship enables graduates of the College of Arts & Sciences to pursue advanced study in the United Kingdom.��

Emma Posey, College of Arts & Sciences, will participate in English-Speaking Union (ESU) program. ESU is a non-profit educational service organization that offers summer study abroad scholarships for college juniors and Kentucky teachers to promote the advancement of knowledge in an expanding global community.

Four students were awarded, a prestigious funding opportunity that enables students from all disciplines to study or conduct research during the summer semester, building global perspectives and academic credentials that set them apart.��

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• Isaiah Cruz
• Marissa Gibson
• Darini Nagarajan
• Zack Wadsworth��

More information about prestigious scholars can be found on the��.

The UofL Fulbright winners were awarded grants to teach English abroad in Turkey, Thailand, Moldova, Spain, Jordan, Taiwan and Germany.

�ճ����Fulbright Program, administered by the Department of State’s Bureau of ����ֱ��al and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.

Since 2001, UofL has been a Fulbright powerhouse, producing 175 scholars (the most in Kentucky) and earning national recognition seven times.

Those receiving ��������:

• Medina Aslan��’24, , of Krymsk, Russia, to Turkey.
• Julia Barclay��’22, ’24, of Union, Ky., to��Thailand.
• Beverly Granger ’18, ’24, College of Arts and Sciences, of Louisville, Ky., to Moldova.
• Olivia Hanke ’24,��of Louisville, Ky., to Spain.
• Anna Hylen��’23,��, of Wilmore, Ky., to Jordan.
• Kaitlyn Purcell ’24, ,��of Georgetown, Ky., to Taiwan.
• Abigail Stanger ’24, College of Arts and Sciences, of Gilbertsville, to Germany.

In addition to the teaching assistantships, sophomores Alexandria Ipock-Groves, College of Arts and Sciences, of Madisonville, Ky., and Saadhavi Maskey, , of Lexington, Ky., were selected as recipients of the . Participants experience an academic program at a United Kingdom university and explore the culture, heritage and history of the UK.

Other prestigious scholars

Three UofL students were awarded . The Boren Awards provide students in all fields of study with funding for immersive study abroad in languages and regions of interest to U.S. national security.

Awardees include the following graduate students:

• Yelena Bagdasaryan, School of Public Health & Information Sciences, will study Czech in the Czech Republic
• Alexis Daniel, College of Arts and Sciences, will study Portuguese in Brazil; and
• Mikaella Tanales, College of Arts and Sciences, will study Mandarin in Taiwan

Four students were awarded the from the U.S. Department of State. The CLS program provides opportunities for overseas language and cultural immersion in critical languages that are essential to the United States’ engagement with the world.

CLS recipients are:

• Kamal Amirneni, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, of Aldie, Va.
• Ryan Apperson��’24, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Business
• Laura Hanna, senior, College of Arts and Sciences
• Rehan Kahloon, senior, College of Arts and Sciences,��of Louisville, Ky.

Other students also earned unique honors and opportunities.

Forest Clevenger ’22,��College of Arts and Sciences,��of Louisville, Ky., was awarded the

Eden Baize, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, was selected as the recipient of the This scholarship promotes the advancement of knowledge in an expanding global community.

Edler Jonhatan, senior, was awarded fellowship, an academic preparation program for undergraduate juniors committed to public service careers.

And, two students received scholarships the university had never been awarded before.

Shraddha Patel��’24, College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the FAO Schwarz Fellowship. The selective fellowship provides an intensive two-year experience where participants hone their leadership development and professional skills to pursue careers in social impact.

Afi Tagnedji��’23, was selected for the which brings together graduate students from various disciplines across Stanford University.

More on these scholars and winners of other prestigious academic scholarships can be found at��

Since 2003, UofL has produced 159 Fulbright scholars, more than all other Kentucky public institutions combined, and has been named a top producer of Fulbrights in the United States seven times.

“UofL student scholars continue to successfully position themselves through Fulbrights and other prestigious scholarships to become the next world leaders,” said Lori Gonzalez, interim UofL president. “These scholarship experiences are invaluable in an era of increasing global awareness and dependence. Our students are showing they can successfully compete on a scale that goes far beyond our city and Commonwealth and that they will affect positive change for generations to come.”

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers research, study and teaching opportunities in over 140 countries to recent graduates and graduate students. Administered in the U.S. by the Department of State’s Bureau of ����ֱ��al and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright program was established in 1946 to promote international goodwill through education and cultural exchange.

This year’s Fulbright winners represent the College of Arts & Sciences, the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, the College of Business and the School of Medicine. They are:

• Leen Abozaid: English Teaching Assistantship, Jordan��
• Reese Bergschneider: English Teaching Assistantship, Indonesia��
• Katya Kovatsenko: English Teaching Assistantship, Bulgaria��
• Henrietta (Henny) Ransdell: English Teaching Assistantship, Thailand��
• Lauren Reuss: English Teaching Assistantship, Thailand��
• Jessica (Jesse) Sanders: English Teaching Assistantship, Thailand
• Farhiya Shaban: English Teaching Assistantship, Bahrain��
• Emily Spicer: Research, Czech Republic��
• Kathryn VanderEspt: Research, Slovenia

“I am thrilled to see so many outstanding Cardinals receiving national recognition for their accomplishments—and to know these young researchers, educators and advocates are just getting started,” said Bethany Smith of the National and International Scholarships office. “UofL has a lot to celebrate in our exceptional students, as well as the supportive, involved faculty and staff mentors who help make these successes possible.”��

The university previously announced the following prestigious scholarships:

• Ben Anderson, who graduated from UofL in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, was awarded a 2022 .��
• Cornelius Sanford, who graduated from UofL in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and pan-African studies, won a 2022 .
• University of Louisville senior Samuel Kessler has earned a .
• Three University of Louisville juniors conducting undergraduate research in breast cancer, galaxies and robotics won 2022 , marking the largest number of recipients from UofL in a single year.��

For more information, visit .

That skill will come in especially handy as he serves as interim dean of the law school through the end of December.

Smith joined the Brandeis Law��faculty in 2000, teaching courses such as Intellectual Property Survey, Trademark Law, Business Planning, Law and Economics, Property and Secured Transactions. He is particularly interested in helping students build practice skills, and so incorporates various practice-based exercises in his Trademark Law and Business Planning courses.

In 2012, Smith received the University of Louisville Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching. In 2011, he received a Fulbright Scholarship Award to teach at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, China, where he taught Chinese Masters of Law students about U.S. intellectual property law.

Smith’s scholarship focuses on issues related to intellectual property, commercial law and technology. His work has focused on the challenge of applying existing intellectual property legal structures on new technologies.

Smith took some time to talk to UofL News about his hidden talents, advice for law students and more.

UofL News: What was your best��summer job?
Smith: I was an ordinary seaman on a chemical tanker the summer before I started college. The S.S. Bow Star left Philadelphia and went to Holland, England, Belgium and sailed through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal to Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. I was the youngest person on board and chipped rusted paint and helped load and unload chemicals.��

UofL News: What’s your favorite Louisville restaurant?
Smith: Jack Fry’s and Lilly’s Bistro.��

UofL News: What might people be surprised to know about you?
Smith: I can juggle. I can spin a Frisbee on my finger. As long as it’s solid, I can spin about anything.

UofL News: What class impacted you the most when you were in law school?
Smith: Contracts and Secured Transactions. I had the same professor for both: Susan Finneran. She was really engaging. I probably model my teaching after her the most.

UofL News: What advice do you have for law students today?
Smith: Put in the time. There are some people who are innately good at studying at the last minute. Those are few and far between. Put in the time.