Steve Ruckman '01 and Catherine Pfaffenroth '01 both received Fulbright Scholarships, Jordan Krall recived a Rhodes Scholarship, Sonali Duggal '01E recived a Watson Fellowship and Kimberly Palmer was awarded a Luce Scholarship.
Fellowships Coordinator Denise Gagnon said that she was enthralled with this year's performance. "So much work goes into this process that I feel like I won it each time," she said.
Gagnon added that these scholarships are extremely competitive, even at the application stage. Since the College must select its most qualified candidates, "It is an honor even to compete nationally," Gagnon said.
For example, Gagnon receives over 30 applications each year for the Watson Fellowship from Amherst College students. Of those, 15 students are called back, and four are eventually selected to enter the national pool.
The national pool is fiercely competitive, according to Gagnon, who said that improvisational skills are necessary to compete successfully. "For most of the merit-based scholarships, cocktail parties start off the process. You have to be ready to discuss current events with those people who will later interview you individually," she said.
Pfaffenroth will accept her fellowship and study art nouveaux in architecture and design in Vienna, Austria. Her award includes a stipend to pursue her studies as well as free enrollment at the University of Vienna. The award is twofold, according to Pfaffenroth. Not only will she perform an independent study, she will also be able to teach English at a secondary school in Vienna.
"This way, I'll able to immerse myself in the culture, understand a new community and perfect my German," she said.
Her project will probably be a continuation of her thesis. She hopes to conduct both visual and textual research on art nouveaux.
"Art nouveaux is not just a chair," said Pfaffenroth. "It is a set of chairs, the table, the light fixture, the door knob, everything inter-connected and echoed to make the surroundings a powerful experience inside art."
Ruckman has received a Fulbright Scholarship which will take him to England. "I will be pursuing a master of science in philosophy, politics and social value at the London School of Economics," said Ruckman. "I will be spending the next year intensively studying the role of ethics in political philosophy and public policy."
The Fulbright to England is especially competitive, explained Gagnon. Last year, over 500 qualified students applied, though only 20 fellowships were awarded. Ruckman was also selected as alternate for both the St. Andrew's and Marshall Scholarships. According to Gagnon, these are just as competitive as the Rhodes Scholarship.
Duggal was recently awarded the Watson Fellowship to study female home-based work in Turkey, England, South Africa and Chile.
A political science and economics major at Amherst, Duggal hopes to better understand the burgeoning role of home-based work in current production and how "organizing takes place in various local contexts."
Applying for this fellowship was strenuous, according to Duggal, who underwent six half-hour interviews as well as the kick-off cocktail party before winning the prize.
Poccia, currently on sabbatical, recently won a three-month Fulbright Scholarship to perform research in Portugal. Since he is already in Portugal for his sabbatical, he will accept the Fulbright starting in September.
A faculty Fulbright is quite similar to a graduate's Fulbright, explained Poccia. "I will receive a grant to perform research on the reactivation of the sperm nucleus at fertilization, especially the nuclear envelope," he said. Poccia will spend his three months at the same institute where he is currently working, the Gulbenkian Institute outside Lisbon.