June 18, 2009
UW undergraduate selected for Boren Scholarship
UW senior Ryo Kato was recently selected as a National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholar, a major national scholarship that provides U.S. undergraduates up to $20,000 to study abroad for an academic year in world regions critical to U.S. interests (including Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin American & the Caribbean, and the Middle East), and are intended to provide support to students who will pursue the study of languages and cultures currently underrepresented in study abroad and critical to U.S. national security. This year, NSEP selected 136 recipients and 86 alternates from a pool of 896 applications. This year’s process was more competitive, with a nearly 30% increase in the number of applications from last year and a slight reduction in the number of awards. UW students Robin Kallsen and Cameron Sparr were selected as alternates.
Ryo Kato, Senior, will graduate fall 2010
Major: International Studies
Minor: Korean Language and Literature
Hometown: Shoreline, WA
Boren Scholar, Critical Language Scholar, Jackson School Student Association (vice president for academics)
Ryo Kato will spend next year studying Korean in South Korea. Ryo is also a Critical Language Scholar and will be starting his Korean language studies with that scholarship this summer, before his Boren award starts for the regular academic year.
Robin Kallsen, Junior
Major: International Studies, Pre-Med
Hometown: Vashon, WA
Alternate for Boren Scholarship
Robin Kallsen works as a student assistant at the Fisheries-Oceanography Library, plays piano, writes, and enjoys learning foreign languages. If moved from alternate to scholar, Kallsen will study Russian.
Cameron Sparr, Junior
Major: Near Eastern Languages & Literature, Physics
Minor: Applied Mathematics
Hometown: Beaverton, OR
Alternate for Boren Scholarship, INSER Travel Award (summer 2008)
Cameron Sparr works on the Ottoman Text Archive Project and if moved from alternate to scholar will study in Turkey.
About the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards
The Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards helps UW undergraduates develop the tools and personal insights necessary to match their goals with local and national merit-based scholarship opportunities. National scholarship opportunities include the Fulbright, Goldwater, Marshall, Rhodes, Truman scholarships and many others. The office is part of the Center for Experiential Learning in Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
About the National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Scholarship Program
The National Security Education Program (NSEP) was established by the National Security Education Act of 1991, which created the National Security Education Board, the National Security Education Program, and resources to provide undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and institutional grants. It is guided by a mission that seeks to lead in development of the national capacity to educate U.S. citizens, understand foreign cultures, strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and enhance international cooperation and security.
Boren Scholarships are funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), which focuses on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security. Applicants should identify how their study abroad program, as well as their future academic and career goals, will contribute to U.S. national security, broadly defined. NSEP draws on a broad definition of national security, recognizing that the scope of national security has expanded to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American well-being, but also the challenges of global society, including sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness.