Andre Moraes of Monroe awarded Fulbright to Germany | Press Releases

One of a record-setting 9 Fulbrights at Fairfield University

Image: Andre Moraes André de Proença Moraes of Monroe, Conn., has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, the most prestigious international scholarship awarded by the U.S. government, to an English teaching assistantship in Germany that emphasizes diversity. André is one of nine recent Fairfield University graduates selected for the Fulbright, setting a record that nearly doubles the school's previous record of five. Before this stellar class, the university already held the most Fulbrights among master's granting universities across the country for two of the last three years.

A 2007 graduate of Fairfield with a major in finance, André lived in Germany as a young child and has been speaking German fluently since age four. That, combined with the what he describes as "access to two exceptional professors," both professors of German, Dr. Eileen Wilkinson and Dr. Iris Bork-Goldfield, were instrumental in his pursuing a Fulbright scholarship.

André will be studying at a university and teaching English and American culture in Bottrop, which is near Köln. He will be working in a diversity program set up by the Fulbright Commission in Germany and the Pädagogischer-Austauschdienst in order to reach areas of Germany with a high level of diversity in the population. He is looking forward to collaborating with the community and the school to put together a program teaching American Jazz, Blues and Classic Rock.

While at Fairfield, André was the President of Alpha Mu Gamma, the national honor society in foreign languages. He has worked with International student programs and English as a Second Language programs across Connecticut.

The other Fairfield graduates awarded Fulbrights this year are:

Kathleen Bakarich, of Clifton, N.J., an accounting major who will conduct research and take classes in international accounting and European Union business in Frankfurt, Germany;

Ceylan Conger, from Kensington, Md., a politics major and art history minor, who will do research in Turkey on The Role of Women in the Modern Art Movement;

Michael Davis, from Feeding Hills, Mass., who will conduct research in Brazil on the Environmental Impact of Ethanol Production;

Michael Meehan, from Holland, Pa., an economics major, who will research The Finance of Small Enterprises in Germany;

Courtney Pelletier, of Westminster, Mass., an art history major who has an English Teaching Assistantship in Indonesia;

Matthew Ryder, of Hamden, Conn., a philosophy and individually designed major, who will be in China conducting research on "A Population's Chance for Assimilation Found within the Education of its Children; and

Daniel Turco, from Upper Saddle, N.J., an international studies/modern language (German) major, who has an English Teaching Assistantship in Germany.

Alice Zapf, of Freehold, N.J., an international studies/German major who will combine research into Austria's Role in International Politics with an English Teaching Assistantship.

Dr. Orin Grossman, academic vice president, said he couldn't be prouder of the students who set their goals high and then worked hard to achieve them. "These are very bright, inquisitive students who like a challenge. They are certainly a credit to our university." He also commended the faculty who so generously gave of their time and expertise as the students went through the demanding process and Associate Dean Miriam Gogol, who oversaw the Fulbright process on behalf of the University.