A year of milestones for national scholarships at UND

UND celebrates exceptional number of students honored with national scholarships

High-profile scholarships and record-setting cohorts made the 2024-25 academic year one to be proud of, said Yee Han Chu, UND’s academic support and fellowship opportunities coordinator. The success reflects a student body that represents UND’s goal of fostering leaders.

As an advisor to applicants, Chu’s job is to encourage students to look inward to discover how they may align with potential awards.

“National scholarships support individuals who reflect the values and ideals of the sponsoring foundation,” Chu said. “The advising process begins by helping students clarify their own values, priorities and professional goals.”

Though introspection is the first step, collective effort is necessary for students to get to that next level, Chu said. Faculty mentors and advisors help students sharpen their vision, hone their research skills and build a timeline for professional development.

For many, this process mirrors their collegiate experience. From wide-eyed freshmen to seasoned scholars and leaders, students are guided by faculty and mentors who help to shape their academic and application approaches.

“Students who lack faculty and departmental support often represent untapped potential,” said Chu. “Faculty play a crucial role in helping students identify key questions about their discipline, and understand how to approach and answer them.”

That faculty mentorship is especially important for applications for highly selective awards such as the Goldwater and Truman scholarships. These scholarships are among those awarded to UND students over the past academic year, something UND should take great pride in, Chu said.

“Goldwater honors excellence in undergraduate research, while Truman recognizes leadership and public service,” Chu said. “Students who pursue these awards have an amazing intrinsic drive to discover, learn and help others. They are not afraid to pursue opportunities that are difficult.”

Prestigious scholarships, firsts and more

This year, those prestigious awards went to Autumn Landwehr, whose majors are Chemistry and Physics & Astrophysics and who received the Goldwater Scholarship, thus becoming the fourth recipient in UND’s history. Meanwhile, Greyson Orne, Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Political Science, was named a Truman Scholar, the 15th in UND history and the first since 2016.

Christopher Scott, Physics & Astrophysics, and Elisabeth Starosta, Biochemistry, became the first UND students to participate in the CLS Refresh Program, a U.S. State Department initiative designed to strengthen language proficiency.

Palestrina Carter, Teaching, Leadership, & Professional Practice, marked another first for UND by earning a Fulbright Student Research Award to conduct research in Mauritius — the University’s first Fulbright placement in the island nation.

Agustin Zettel, Electrical Engineering, was selected for the State Department’s Summer Internship Program.

Md Nasifur Rahman Sakib, Geography & Geographic Information Science, became the first UND international student to receive the Nagan International Scholarship.

Nichole Dumlao, Psychology and Communications, earned the APAICS Congressional Internship, becoming the first UND recipient of the highly selective program hosted by the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.

Kayla Barral, Political Science and Global Studies, became the first student from North Dakota selected for the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Internship Program, which carries 3% acceptance rate for applicants. Additionally, Sevi Sapunar-Lahr, Global Studies and Norwegian, was named an alternate for the program. (In a heartbreaking development, the State Department ultimately canceled the 2025 summer cohort.)

UND graduate Parker Johnson was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in Physics and Astrophysics, while Elena Rodriguez, Geological Engineering, received an Honorable Mention in Geology.

In another pair of milestones, Jonathan Blankenship, Commercial Aviation and Unmanned Aircraft Systems, became only the third UND student selected for the Henry Clay College Student Congress, while Katelyn Heley, J.D., School of Law, became the first from UND to receive the American College of Bankruptcy’s Distinguished Law Student Award.

UND alumna Sydney Menne also received the MIT Presidential Graduate Fellowship, which will fully fund her first year of graduate study at MIT.

Record year for national scholarship cohorts

In addition to the many national scholarship firsts of the 2024-25 academic year, record-setting cohorts of other students also won awards or advanced to the finalist stage.

Seven students earned the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, representing the largest Gilman cohort in UND history. Recipients include Abraham Akinbobola, Aviation Management; David Moreno, Political Science; Jana Russiff, Medical Lab Sciences; Ketina Francois, Music Education, Spanish, and Global Studies; Alex Hye Her, Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering; Sevi Sapunar-Lahr, Global Studies and Norwegian; Jenna Stein, Marketing.

Akinbobola was also named an alternate for the Meridian Cox Fellowship.

Another record-setting cohort advanced in the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), with five participants, including: Ava Spaeth, Criminal Justice and Forensic Science, Korean (CLS Spark Virtual); Elisabeth Starosta, Biochemistry, Chinese (CLS Overseas); Josef Starosta, Global Studies, Japanese (CLS Spark Virtual); Christopher Scott, Physics & Astrophysics, Russian (CLS Overseas Alternate); and David Moreno, Political Science, Arabic (CLS Spark Alternate).

Moreno was also named an alternate for the Boren Scholarship.

Three students earned spots in the DAAD RISE program, including graduate students Achouak Benarbia, Energy Engineering, and Debdutta Nath, Biology, who are also the first UND graduate students to receive the DAAD RISE Professional Scholarship, as well as Casia Steinhaus, Physics & Astrophysics and Mathematics & Statistics, an undergraduate DAAD RISE Scholar.

Keeping the momentum

Looking forward, Chu is working to develop even more opportunities for UND students. She has proposed that UND partner with the State Department’s Diplomacy Lab, where students would have the chance to tackle real-world policy challenges as part of their coursework.

“Brian Urlacher, Ryan Zerr and I drafted a proposal that is now under review,” Chu said. “If our proposal is accepted, we can start bidding on assignments in fall 2025 for classroom implementation in spring 2026.”

As Chu reflects on the student success the year brought, she sees something more than accolades. She sees a student body eager to face challenges that will lead to experiences beyond the classroom.

And that, she says, is rewarding.

“It’s the kind of pride you feel for your own children when they take on difficult challenges and refuse to give up,” she said. “Their perseverance and purpose give me hope. They remind me that good things can happen when the heart, mind and spirit are working together.”