A record number of WKU students and recent graduates were recognized in prestigious national scholarship competitions in 2012-13.

To date, 31 WKU students and recent graduates were successful in competitions such as the Harry S. Truman, George J. Mitchell, Barry Goldwater and Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship programs. Several students are under consideration in competitions that have yet to announce results.

“The quality and growing quantity of these national and international awards earned by WKU students is both impressive and encouraging,” WKU President Gary Ransdell said. “Such success is a tribute to the rising academic strength at WKU, which is made possible by a superb faculty and Kentucky’s most gifted college students.”

Dr. Ransdell congratulated the award winners, “who will now extend WKU’s international reach as they study and conduct research across the globe.  I also want to thank our faculty for serving as mentors and role models for these incredible students, and to the staff in the Office of Scholar Development for helping them identify the best awards and compete successfully for them.”

WKU students earned an all-time high of 13 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to fund study abroad. The combined value of $44,500 allows these students to pursue academic experiences in Argentina, Costa Rica, South Africa, Tanzania, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Jordan, China and Japan.

WKU students also won a record four Critical Language Scholarships. The program, sponsored by the Department of State, fully funds 10 weeks of intensive critical language study abroad. All four WKU recipients are members of the Chinese Language Flagship Pilot Program and are studying in Suzhou and Qingdao this summer.

WKU continues to be a strong producer of national scholarship success in the sciences.  Barry Goldwater Scholarships are the most prestigious awards for undergraduates in science, engineering and mathematics. WKU’s performance ranks in the top 80th percentile of universities receiving Goldwater recognition.

May 2013 graduate Kelsey Mattingly has become WKU’s first Fulbright Student Grantee to the United Kingdom. She will study for a Master’s degree in Art History at the University of East Anglia. Fellow graduate Ameliah Given was chosen as an alternate for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Israel. Fulbright grants to the United Kingdom and Israel are among the most competitive in the world.

Office of Scholar Development (OSD) staff work with students and their faculty mentors to recruit and help students develop competitive applications.

“This has been a great year, and we are extremely proud of each of the more than 100 students who worked incredibly hard to submit applications for the nation’s most competitive scholarships,” Dr. Audra Jennings, director of the OSD, said. “We have every expectation that these students will accomplish amazing things.”