18 KU Students Receive Gilman Scholarship to Travel Abroad

Christine Metz Howard

Representing diverse academic fields across campus, 18 University of Kansas undergraduate students have received the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study or intern abroad.

Funded through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the highly competitive award provides up to $5,000 to apply toward the program cost to study or intern abroad. Students who additionally were awarded the Gilman Critical Need Language Award receive up to $8,000.

The most recent cohort of Gilman Scholars are from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Schools of Architecture & Design, Business, Education & Human Sciences and Engineering. The students have or will travel to 15 countries spanning throughout Europe and Asia.

Since the program’s inception in 2001, the State Department has awarded more than 38,000 Gilman scholarships to American students. During the 2022-2023 academic year, more than 3,600 Gilman scholarships were awarded.

The scholarship contributes to the State Department’s diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts. All Gilman Scholars are Pell Grant recipients, while 70% identify as racial or ethnic minorities, 60% are from rural areas or small towns, and more than half are first generation college students.

“Ensuring all students have access to global and intercultural learning through study abroad is a priority for the KU Study Abroad & Global Engagement unit,” SAGE Director Angela Perryman said. “We are very excited to have such a strong cohort of Gilman Scholarship recipients at KU this year.”

The recent award recipients from KU include the following students:

  • Dustin Gallegly, a philosophy and religious studies major from Garden Grove, California, will travel to India for Buddhist studies this fall.
  • Ashley Hernandez, a human biology major from Liberal, is participating in the Hospital Shadowing in Spain program this summer.
  • Kristen Hines, a sociology major from Topeka, is studying at the University of Oslo International Summer School in Norway this summer.
  • Nicholas Hwang, an international business and finance major from Manhattan, will study at National Taiwan University in Taiwan this academic year.
  • Leslie Koffi, an architecture major from Denver, will participate in the Architecture in Asia program in Singapore and South Korea this winter.
  • Lorraine McCann, an interior architecture and design major from Kansas City, Missouri, participated in the Architecture in Southern Europe and Morocco program in Spain, Morocco and Portugal this summer.
  • Juan Miranda, a microbiology major from Augusta, is participating in the Hospital Shadowing in Spain program this summer.
  • Kaitlyn Moore, a secondary English education major from Lyndon, is studying at J.F. Oberlin University in Japan this summer.
  • Sarah Moore, an architecture and construction management major from Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, participated in an Architecture in Asia program in Singapore and Malaysia last winter.
  • Kevinh Nguyen, who is majoring in interdisciplinary computing with a concentration in economics, is from Topeka and will study at Yonsei University in South Korea this fall.
  • Jase Owens, an architecture major from Wentzville, Missouri, participated in the Architecture in Europe program in Denmark, Finland and Sweden this summer.
  • Haley Pfeifer, an aerospace engineering major from Ellsworth, participated in the SELF Engineering Fellows Leadership Program in Slovenia this summer.
  • Anastasia Phomchaleun, a political science and East Asian languages & cultures major from Salina, will study at Korea University in South Korea this academic year.
  • Neily Randall, an English major from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, is studying at the Language Institute in Holzkirchen, Germany, this summer.
  • Caydon Rollow, a business administration and Japanese major from Caldwell, will study at Sophia University in Japan this academic year.
  • Madison Stevens, a finance major from Garnett, is interning in Singapore this summer through CIEE Summer Global Internships.
  • Keirian Tillman, an architecture major from Lawrence, participated in the Architecture in Asia program in Singapore and Malaysia last winter.
  • Daphne Wagner, a linguistics and East Asian languages & cultures major from Auburn, is studying at Sogang University in South Korea this summer.