Eleven faculty members and nine students from Michigan State University were offered Fulbright awards for the 2025-26 academic year.
Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international education program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. Through various Fulbright programs, students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields have the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to important international problems.
This year, 20 total MSU scholars and students from 10 degree-granting colleges will study in 17 different countries.
“MSU’s Fulbright scholars and students embody the university’s mission to address the world’s most pressing challenges and advance the greater good, locally and globally,” said Thomas Jeitschko, MSU interim provost. “Congratulations to this year’s cohort of Fulbright Program participants as they prepare to embark on transformative international exchanges that will help advance MSU’s global commitments and connections.”
Since its inception, the Fulbright Program has celebrated more than 400,000 participants. In the 2024-25 school year, MSU was named a “Fulbright Top Producing Institution” for students.
“Hundreds of Spartan students and faculty have enjoyed transformative Fulbright experiences and brought new global perspectives back to Michigan,” said Joy Campbell, Fulbright Program advisor at MSU.
“We have also welcomed hundreds of international Fulbrighters, who have contributed to our campus community in countless positive ways. MSU has long been a leader in Fulbright programming, and we have benefited immeasurably from these exchanges.”
The following faculty were offered prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards:
- Scott Boehm, assistant professor, College of Arts and Letters, fall 2025 (Spain). Project: “2015: Spain’s Year of Change?”
- Natoshia Cunningham, associate professor, College of Human Medicine, February 2026 (Spain). Project: “Improving Outcomes for Spanish Youth with Functional Abdominal Pain”
- Narendra N. Das, associate professor, colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Engineering, January 2026 (Vietnam). Project: “Advancing Agricultural and Water Resource Management in Vietnam through High Resolution SAR Data”
- Sarah Douglas, associate professor, College of Social Science, January 2026 (South Africa). Project: “Supporting Children who use AAC: A Professional and Communication Partner Training Approach”
- Emine Evered, professor, College of Social Science, spring 2026 (Turkey). Project: “Lucky Numbers: The Role of Regulated Gambling in Turkish National-Building (19th-20th Century)”
- Marty Jordan, assistant professor, College of Social Science, award declined (El Salvador). Project: “Developing Analytical Techniques and Advancing Statistical Literacy in El Salvador”
- Caitlin Kirby, academic specialist, colleges of Arts and Letters and Natural Science, January 2026 (Germany). Project: “Impacts of Adaptive Intelligent Tutoring Systems on Self-Regulated Learning Skills”
- Sandra Lupien, academic specialist, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, August 2025 (Finland). Project: “Cataloging, Analyzing and Comparing Policies and Initiatives to Advance Sustainable Mass Timber Construction and Manufacture”
- Deric McNish, associate professor, College of Arts and Letters, March 2026 (Israel). Project: “Global Voices: Theatre, Disability and Cross-Cultural Connection”
- Brian Pentland, professor, Eli Broad College of Business, fall 2025 (Austria). Project: “Constructing and Analyzing Path Nets”
- Ed Timke, assistant professor, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, spring 2026 (Sweden). Project: “Disability Inclusion in Swedish Marketing Communications”
The following undergraduate and graduate students were named finalists; one student chose to remain anonymous. Another student was named an alternate.
- Nunzio Carducci is a doctoral student in chemical engineering in the College of Engineering from Laramie, Wyoming. Carducci’s Fulbright will take him to Italy beginning October 2025; his project is titled: “Engineering Electroactive Biocatalysts for Enhanced Photosynthesis.”
- Andre Edmond earned his bachelor’s in psychology in 2025 from the College of Social Science and is from Grand Haven, Michigan. Edmond will be an English Teaching Assistant in Indonesia beginning fall 2025.
- Kayla Gantz earned her bachelor’s in French from the College of Arts and Letters in 2025 and is from Warren, Michigan. Her Fulbright term as an English Teaching Assistant in Switzerland begins September 2025.
- Aviana Irrer earned her bachelor’s in the arts and humanities in 2025 from the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities and is from DeWitt, Michigan. She will be an English Teaching Assistant in Germany beginning in September 2025.
- Carolyn Kolar earned her bachelor’s in education from the College of Education in 2025 and is from East Lansing, Michigan. She begins as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Senegal in fall 2025.
- Sydney Logsdon earned her bachelor’s in English from the College of Arts and Letters in 2025 and is from Lake Orion, Michigan. As an alternate, she may have the opportunity to study in the United Kingdom should another finalist decline their offer. Logsdon’s project is titled: “Interdisciplinary Scholarship and Cultural Activism through the Environmental Humanities.”
- Ivy Ly graduated with her master’s in teaching English to speakers of other languages from the College of Arts and Letters in 2025 and will begin as an English Teaching Assistant in Taiwan in August 2025.
- Justin Weller earned his master’s in student affairs administration from the College of Education in 2025 and is from Bay City, Michigan. He begins his Fulbright in Taiwan as an English Teaching Assistant in August 2025.