Nine students win study abroad scholarships

Nine UIC students have been awarded U.S. State Department Benjamin A. Gilman scholarships to study abroad this fall.

The UIC recipients are among more than 800 American undergraduate students from 350 colleges and universities across the U.S. selected for the honor.

The Gilman International Scholarship Program, sponsored by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, aims to diversify the group of students who study abroad and their destinations. To be eligible, students must demonstrate financial need by receiving a federal Pell Grant for their studies.

Scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply toward their study abroad program costs. Since 2006, UIC students have won more than 130 Gilman scholarships totaling $515,000.

The latest UIC recipients, representing the colleges of architecture, design, and the arts; business administration; and liberal arts and sciences; and their destinations include:

Urielle Blanchard, sophomore in art from Davie, Florida, studying in Tokyo

Bridget Hansen, an Honors College senior in anthropology from McHenry, Illinois, studying in Amman, Jordan

Asya Hill, junior in art history from Chicago (Bronzeville), studying in Valparaiso, Chile

Lauren Jones, junior in psychology from Chicago (Bronzeville), studying in Aix-en-Provence, France

Pawel Makuch, a junior in accounting from Bensenville, Illinois, studying in Seoul, South Korea

Elise Sosa, a senior in sociology from Chicago (Oriole Park), studying in Istanbul

John Stachelski, a senior in Russian from Joliet, Illinois, studying in St. Petersburg, Russia

Jeremy Taluzek, a senior in Russian from Lemont, Illinois, studying in St. Petersburg, Russia

Marcelina Zawislak, a senior in English from Schiller Park, Illinois, studying in Bilbao, Spain.

The program is funded through the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000 and is administered by the Institute of International Education’s Southern Regional Center in Houston. The program honors former U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, a former chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee.