VOTING WITH THEIR FEET…AMERICAN SCHOLARS COME TO QUEEN’S  

 (L-R): Natalie Campbell; Professor Richard English; Leena Hornlein; Wyatt Page; Natasha Oviedo; Mylie Brennan; Elizabeth Kennedy-Trudeau; Julia Newton

03 November 2020

On the day that an expected 140 million Americans will finally elect their next President, we celebrate Northern Ireland’s connections with the US by meeting some of the scholarship recipients presently studying at Queen’s.  

Despite all its many difficulties and ruthless challenges, this year has seen the largest number of inbound USA scholarship recipients at Queen’s in over a decade. Beneficiaries represent a mix of internal (QUB) award winners along with a number of recipients of prestigious external scholarships such as Fulbright, Marshall, Mitchell and Rotary.

While the majority of US scholars are graduate students, awards are also available for international undergraduates.

Last month (October) some of those recipients met the US Consul General in Belfast, Elizabeth Kennedy-Trudeau and Professor Richard English, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation and Engagement at Queen’s.

Among them was Natalie Campbell, the first University of Tennessee (UT) student to win a prestigious Mitchell Scholarship, named in honour of Queen’s former Chancellor, Senator George J. Mitchell.

Natalie is pursuing a Master’s degree in Inclusion and Special Educational Needs at Queen’s.

Speaking about the award to UT News last year, Natalie said: 

“I am incredibly honoured to receive this award – it will be my pleasure to represent UT and Tennessee to the Mitchell Scholarship Program and to Northern Ireland.

“My studies at Queen’s will prepare me for a career reforming the quality and type of education students with intellectual disability receive across the United States.”

Rotary Global Grant Scholar Leena Hornlein is no stranger to the US election process. The University of Wyoming graduate who is undertaking an MA in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, was a volunteer for the Hillary for America campaign in 2016, was a Congressional Intern with Congressman Greg Stanton in the US House of Representatives for 4 months and an Intern with the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs for 3 months during 2019 and earlier this year served as a Finance Assistant with the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

Global peace, security, and justice…and Finance

Mylie Brennan, who recently completed a Master’s in Communication at Ball State University in Indiana won a Fulbright PHD Award which has enabled her to come to Queen's to pursue a doctoral program in global peace, security, and justice, focusing on political identities of young people in post-conflict Northern Ireland.

She chose Queen’s because the research focus of the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, is very similar to the area she wished to pursue.

Speaking to the Ball State Daily in June, she said:

“That interest grew during my master’s program at Ball State, particularly when I became interested in peace and conflict studies.

“When I realized that I wanted to take my research further, Queen’s was clearly the ideal school for my research.”

Currently working towards a Master's in Quantitative Finance, Wyatt Page has a degree in Finance from Juniata College, a Liberal arts college in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

Thanks to a Queen’s Sport Academy award Wyatt, who is Sector Head (Healthcare) for Queen’s Student Managed Fund, hopes to enter into the Finance industry upon completion of his postgraduate study.

Among other US scholarship recipients currently studying at Queen’s are:

• Fulbright MA Award: Madeline Hughes, MA Global Security and Borders, Boston College, MA
• Hillary Rodham Clinton Award: Katherine Becker, MA Global Security and Borders, Duke University, NC
• Marshall Scholar: Rose Asaf, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, New York University
• Queen’s Vice-Chancellor's International Attainment Scholarship: Emily Rich, MHP Global Health, University of Louisville, KY and Julia Newton, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, Malone College, OH
• Rotary: Natasha Oviedo, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, University of California, LA

Future scholarships

In addition to the support available this year for American scholars Queen’s is also offering a wide range of scholarship awards and discounts for prospective US students who are commencing their studies in 2021, covering a range of academic areas and backgrounds.

Bachelors

• Vice-Chancellor’s International Attainment Scholarships – 50% tuition fee waiver
• International Office Undergraduate Scholarships – £2,500-£3,000 tuition fee waiver
• Queen’s Family Scholarship (for children, sisters & brothers of QUB alumni) – 20% discount on year 1 of study
• Queen’s Elite Athlete Scholarship – up to £5,000 award plus sporting package
• Plus two new awards for International students enrolling onto a full-time undergraduate programme and offering full tuition fees paid for all years of programme (max. 4 years)

Graduate studies

• The Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Peace & Reconciliation – full tuition waiver
• Queen’s Management School Graduate Awards for North America – £5,000 tuition fee waiver
• Vice-Chancellor's International Attainment Awards – 50% tuition fee waiver
• International Office Postgraduate Scholarships – £2,000 – £3,000 tuition fee waiver
• Queen’s Family Scholarship (for children, sisters & brothers of Queen’s alumni) – 20% discount on year 1 of study
• Queen’s Elite Athlete Scholarship – up to £5,000 award plus sporting package

So while the election results in America on 3rd November may reveal who is to be President there for the next four years, US scholarship students currently studying at Queen’s – or hoping to do so in the future – are already taking the decisive steps necessary to secure their own futures at a world-class Russell Group university in Belfast, far from their homes across the Atlantic.

For more on applying to Queen’s from the United States of America visit the University’s website or contact Senior International Officer, Anya O'Connor. For further information on the full range of international scholarships available at Queen’s please visit the University’s website.  

For general enquiries about this story, or to submit a graduate news item, please contact Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office, Queen’s University Belfast.

Caption (L-R): Natalie Campbell, MEd Inclusion and Special Needs (Mitchell Scholarship); Professor Richard English, Pro-Vice-Chancellor; Leena Hornlein, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice (Rotary Scholarship); Wyatt Page, MSc Quantitative Finance (QUB Sport Academy Scholarship); Natasha Oviedo, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice (Rotary Scholarship); Mylie Brennan, PhD Politics (Fulbright PhD Award); Elizabeth Kennedy-Trudeau, U.S. Consul General in Belfast and Julia Newton, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice (Vice-Chancellor’s International Attainment Scholarship).

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