Six University of Portland Graduates Honored with Fulbright U.S. Student Awards for 2024-2025

Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement

Awards and Rankings

April 30, 2024

Four University of Portland graduates in the Class of 2024 join two recent UP alumni as recipients of Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards to serve as Fulbright English Teaching Assistants for the 2024-2025 academic year.

2024 UP Fulbright scholars
(L to R, top and bottom) Katherine Motley ’24, Claire Lang ’24, Mia Tierney ’24, Taylor Marks ’24, Lucah Katauskas ’23, and Molly Lowney ’21.

 

Fulbright U.S. Students are graduating seniors, alumni or graduate students recognized each year by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

UP’s six Fulbright recipients are:

  • Lucah Katauskas ’23 majored in organizational communication at UP with a minor in German. Katauskas, from Edwards, Colo., was selected to teach English in Germany.
  • Claire Lang ’24 majored in political science and global affairs and German — completing her degree work in December. Lang is from Olympia, Wash. and will serve as a teaching assistant in Germany.
  • Molly Lowney ’21, from Gilroy, Calif., was an environmental ethics and policy major and a social justice and Spanish minor at UP. She has been awarded an English Teaching Assistantship in Argentina.
  • Taylor Marks ’24 majored in political science and global affairs and history and minored in economics. Marks is from Portland and will teach in Taiwan.
  • Katherine Motley ’24, an English major and neuroscience minor from Colorado Springs, Colo., will teach in the Slovak Republic.
  • Mia Tierney ’24, from Portland, completed her degree in December — majoring in English with writing and Spanish minors. Tierney will serve as a teaching assistant in Greece.

“We at the University of Portland are thrilled for Lucah, Claire, Molly, Taylor, Kat and Mia,” said UP President Robert D. Kelly, PhD. “UP enjoys a rich history of producing Fulbright scholars, and we are delighted that these extraordinary Pilots will continue that legacy by teaching English in Germany, Argentina, Taiwan, the Slovak Republic and Greece. The success of these graduates demonstrates UP’s strength at producing globally engaged scholars who are ready to make an impact here in America and around the world.”

After honoring two Fulbright U.S. Students from the University in 2022 and 2023, UP’s Fulbright Program Adviser Cara Hersh, PhD praised the 2024 class of six who will join more than 2,000 students nationwide selected to pursue graduate study, conduct research or teach English in schools abroad.

“These thoughtful and engaged students were all active contributors to our UP community and classrooms and I am confident that they will continue to be strong and effective ambassadors for the U.S. and our University while working abroad,” said Hersh, the University’s Assistant Provost of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement & Career Readiness.

Dr. Hersh encourages current students and recent alumni to apply for Fulbrights through UP’s Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement.

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.