VILLANOVA, Pa. – The U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board has announced the Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for 2019-20, with 31 Villanova University students and alumni winning the prestigious awards including four Villanova former and current student-athletes.
 
This marks the largest single-year number of Fulbright awards in the University's history, surpassing the previous record of 16 winners set in 2018-19. In addition to the 31 award recipients, eight other Villanovans were selected as alternates and 16 earned recognition as semi-finalists. Villanova has been listed among the nation's top producers of Fulbright Students for more than a decade and the University has had at least one student selected for the coveted award each year since 1994.
 
The four Villanova student-athletes who earned a Fulbright Scholarship include Mackenzie Bowden, Ellie Cayer and Briggs Mroz from women's rowing and Mary Spillane from women's swimming and diving. Taylor Wilson of women's swimming and diving was named a semi-finalist for the award.
 
"At Villanova, graduating complete student-athletes, who excel on and off the fields of play, is always the top priority. We are incredibly proud of Mackenzie, Ellie, Briggs and Mary for earning Fulbright scholarships," said Villanova Director of Athletics Mark Jackson.  "They exemplify what it means to be a complete student-athlete at Villanova—competing at the highest level of Division I athletics, excelling in the classroom, and now preparing to make a positive impact on the world as Fulbright Scholars. Congratulations to each of you on this wonderful accomplishment."

Since its establishment in 1946, the 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 and the world.  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.
 
Fulbright recipients meet, work with, and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction in the classroom, field, home, and in daily tasks. These experiences allow the grantee to gain an appreciation of others' viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Visit the Fulbright U.S. Student Program website to learn more.
 
The Fulbright competition at Villanova is open to all current undergraduate, graduate, professional students and alumni, and is administered by the University's Center for Research and Fellowships (CRF). Students and alumni create an application for the fellowship program under the direction of the CRF team—which provides both one-on-one consultations and group support for throughout the application process, including conceptualization of projects, writing and revising proposals, and interview preparation and practice.
 
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program, offering students grants to conduct research, study, and teach abroad. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
 
Mackenzie Bowden (Women's Rowing / '20 COE-Master's), of Halifax, Mass., is a first-year graduate student in the Sustainable Engineering program with a concentration in international development. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, with minors in biochemical engineering and sustainability studies, also from Villanova University. Bowden has worked on international service projects in India, Indonesia and Madagascar through the Villanova Engineering Service Learning program. She will spend her Fulbright year in Indonesia to study Bahasa Indonesia via a Critical Language Enhancement Award and conduct a research project titled, "Rural Utilization of Alternative Feedstocks for Anaerobic Digestion." Upon her return to the U.S., Bowden intends to pursue a career in sustainable international development. 





Ellie Cayer  (Women's Rowing / '19 CLAS), of Arlington, Mass., will graduate this spring with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Interdisciplinary Studies, with a concentration in Latin American Studies and a double major in Spanish Language and Literature. She has been a coxswain on the Women's Rowing team all four years at Villanova and served as two-year captain. Cayer was also a chair of the Villanova Day of Service Committee and an office assistant in the Office of the President. This past summer, she served as an intern at the Inter-American Foundation in Washington D.C., working on grassroots funding and development in Latin America and the Caribbean. She will spend her Fulbright year in Colombia serving as an English Teaching Assistant in the city of Tunja. Upon her return, Cayer will attend graduate school in international relations and development, specifically focused on Latin America to pursue a career in this field. 




Briggs Mroz (Women's Rowing / '18 CLAS), of Elmhurst, Ill., graduated in the Spring of 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and Communication specializing in Media Production. Mroz competed as a member of Villanova's rowing team for four years, being recognized as a CAA conference honoree. On the crew of two student documentaries addressing social justice issues while at Villanova, Mroz has since worked on an environmental documentary, Current Revolution, and on a multitude of commercials following graduation. She will spend a year in Taiwan as an English Teaching Assistant. Upon return to the U.S., Mroz will continue to pursue a career in media production. 






Mary Spillane (Women's Swimming and Diving / '18 COE), of Trumbull, Conn., graduated last spring with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship. While attending Villanova, she produced 3D printed models of the St. Thomas of Villanova Church for faculty, students and staff. As a four-year member of the Villanova Women's varsity swimming team, Spillane received recognition from the Big East Conference as an Academic All-Star during the 2017-2018 season. She recorded a new top time in the 50-yard freestyle at the BIG EAST Championship with a time of 23.81. She also actively participated in the Villanova Pastoral Musicians and Villanova University Tech Crew. Spillane is currently employed by Harris Corporation as a Mechanical Design Engineer and is approaching her one-year work anniversary.
 



Taylor Wilson (Women's Swimming and Diving / '19 CLAS); Political Science, Sociology; English Teaching Assistantship in Bulgaria. At the 2018 BIG EAST Championships, Wilson placed first in five of the seven events at the championships, recorded a new personal best and broke a program record with her 800-freestyle relay team (7:10.63)