Jefferson Scholars Foundation Awards Fellowships to 24 Graduate Students

May 24, 2022
A modern brick and glass building

Jefferson and National Fellows contribute to the intellectual life of the University and have use of the foundation’s 40,000-square-foot facility on Grounds. (Photo by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)

Twenty-four exceptional graduate students will receive fellowships from the Jefferson Scholars Foundation this fall to pursue their studies across a range of fields, including the arts and sciences, engineering, and business.

Twenty-one will receive Jefferson Fellowships, the premier graduate fellowship offered at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and School of Engineering and Applied Science. Three will receive National Fellowships, which support outstanding scholars at leading institutions of higher education, including UVA, who are completing dissertations in United States politics, with an emphasis on historical and institutional analyses of politics, public policy and foreign relations. 

Recipients of the Jefferson Fellowship are selected based on their potential as scholars, teachers, public servants and business leaders and receive full financial support to attend the University for the fellowship period. National Fellows are selected based on their potential as rising scholars to shed new light upon contemporary developments in American politics, foreign policy, and America and the world. They receive support for up to two years of dissertation research and writing and are paired with a renowned senior scholar in their field, who serves as a mentor to the student.

Both Jefferson and National Fellows contribute to the intellectual life of the University and have use of the foundation’s 40,000-square-foot facility in Charlottesville, which includes multifunctional spaces for research presentations, conferences, lectures and individual study.

 

The National Fellows are:

  • Dan EwertPrinceton University.
  • Crystal LuoUniversity of Virginia.
  • Angus McLeodUniversity of Pennsylvania.

 

The Jefferson Fellows are:

  • Josephine Adams, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of English).
  • Evan Brown, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Biology).
  • Lydia Brown, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of English).
  • Giovanna Camacho, School of Engineering and Applied Science (Department of Engineering Systems and Environment).
  • Creighton Coleman, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Religious Studies).
  • Kelly Dunham, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Chemistry).
  • Benjamin Friedlander, Darden School of Business.
  • Cherrie Kwok, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of English).
  • Emily Mellen, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Music).
  • Renna Nouwairi, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Chemistry).
  • Bridget Reilly, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of English).
  • Clare Rodenberg, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Environmental Sciences).
  • Jessica Swoboda, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of English).
  • Lloyd Sy, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of English).
  • Spencer Tassone, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Environmental Sciences).
  • Vasfiye Toprak, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Sociology).
  • Victoria Velasquez, Darden School of Business.
  • Meaghan Walsh, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Art History).
  • Patrice Wright, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Sociology).
  • Jiajun Yan, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (Department of Mathematics).
  • John Zwick, Darden School of Business.

Media Contact

Jimmy Wright

President Jefferson Scholars Foundation