Berea College is pleased to announce that Lauren Heller, Maysville, Kentucky native and Berea College Class of 2018, has been awarded the 2022 Fulbright Anne Wexler Scholarship through the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

The Fulbright Anne Wexler award is only granted to one U.S. student annually.

Its goal is to enable an individual with strong academic credentials and leadership potential to undertake a master’s degree in Australia in a key area of public policy.

The Fulbright Anne Wexler scholarships in Public Policy aim to grow Australian-American educational linkages by building a network of public policy experts and encouraging ongoing policy exchange between both countries.

Heller will be attending Western Sydney University (WSU) in Sydney, Australia, where she will complete a Master of Public Health (MPH). Her studies will focus on public health as it relates to marginalized populations in Australia while also learning from Australia’s hybrid healthcare system and its history with indigenous, migrant, and refugee populations.

Heller was chosen through the larger Fulbright U.S. Student Program—along with some 2,000 U.S. citizens—for this honor. Fulbright recipients are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement and their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.

We commend Lauren Heller, congratulating her for her high achievement in winning this prestigious Fulbright recognition. She will be contributing greatly to international understanding at a time when the world needs building up.

When asked about her accomplishment, Heller responded, “I look forward to the Fulbright’s potential as a conduit for me to explore the multifaceted role that public health plays in Australian communities, and how the social determinants of health are impacted within each marginalized community. Knowing the importance of access to public healthcare and having well-balanced social determinants of health, I believe that public health will be an interesting focal point for me to build relationships and cultural understanding.”

In addition, Heller hopes to learn more about the socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental facets of the Australian people “through conversations, laughter, and tears.” She feels that through her personal experience there, she “may better understand the importance of public health in a global perspective.”

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. It is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations worldwide also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide. Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given more than 390,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Fulbrighters address critical global challenges in all disciplines while building relationships, knowledge, and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 59 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 84 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.

In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright. The Center for International Education administers the Fulbright U.S. Student Program at Berea College. Ms. Ann Butwell is the school’s Fulbright Program Associate (FPA). Recent graduates and rising seniors can apply for the next cycle: the 2022-23 school year by September 15, 2021. You can find more information about Berea’s application procedures here: https://legacy.berea.edu/cie/fulbright-us-student-program/.