The Dean of Academic Life seeks to assist undergraduates and recent graduates engage in a process of reflection upon their education — inside and outside the classroom — their values and their life goals in order to enhance success in applying for opportunities that will enable them to realize their goals (e.g. nationally prestigious awards, graduate or professional study).
Opportunities include significant student research and presentation, study abroad and meaningful volunteer and service-learning work. The process acknowledges the different levels of readiness of students, from the first year through postgraduate study. Included are many opportunities to work with faculty awards advisors and the Dean, including an intensive mock application and interview program during the Junior year, whose reward is a $1000 Presidential Scholarship. Hundreds of national and international awards, finalist statuses and honorable mentions have been earned by Muhlenberg students and recent graduates.
Whether students receive an award or not, the process has helped all students get to know themselves better and present themselves better in future competitions and in postgraduate careers. Close work with faculty who teach, advise and inspire these students is central to success.
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Kammie Takahashi, PhD
Director of Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards
2020-2021
J. William Fulbright - The Fulbright is the flagship international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The award subsidizes one year’s teaching or research abroad. Chris Herrick, Political Science, was the advisor to the Fulbright award.
The College has 6 students applying for the Fulbright for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Barry M. Goldwater – The program awards up to $7,500 annually for a maximum of two years to students with a demonstrated commitment to a career in science or math, excluding medical school. Joseph Keane, Chemistry, is the advisor to the Goldwater.
National Science Foundation - The NSF awards $34,000 per year, plus $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to students embarking on graduate study in the sciences. Bruce Wightman, Biology, is the advisor to the NSF award.
Harry S. Truman - The Truman is a $30,000 scholarship for graduate study in preparation for a career in public service. Students are chosen because of outstanding leadership potential. Michele Moser Deegan, Dean of Academic Life and professor of Political Science, is the advisor to the Truman.
In “Art After-Life,” Assistant Professor of Film Studies David Romberg employs generative AI technology to allow him to converse with his father, Latin American artist Osvaldo Romberg, posthumously. David has collaborated with Assistant Professor of Computer Science Hamed Yaghoobian as well as students and alumni on the project.
White, a political science and sustainability studies double major, will spend 10 months teaching English in Mongolia. Two other recent alumni were also named Fulbright semi-finalists.
It’s the first time the College has achieved Gold since the rating system became more stringent in 2019.
The incredibly competitive mid-career advancement award will allow Sprayberry and her undergraduate research students to open up a new line of inquiry in her lab, which explores how the sensory processing of pollinators drives behavior.
