French Study Abroad Sparks Joy in Alumnus
Stephen Lamm ’19, traveled abroad twice while at UMW – once on a faculty-led trip to Québec and also on a semester-long study abroad in Grenoble, France, which led him to visit 11 European countries. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.
Stephen Lamm ’19 was a junior at Mary Washington when he studied abroad at the foot of the Alps. During those four months, he learned to speak fluent French and trekked across Europe. He also lost his grandfather – and found himself.
As an openly gay student who led UMW’s College Republicans, Lamm spent his college career crossing boundaries and building coalitions within his own party and across the aisle. Overseas, though, he had to rely on a new set of voices to see him through a difficult time.
“I was in a foreign country, speaking a different language, and yet I found myself surrounded by friends who felt like family,” said Lamm, who now manages health insurance cases as a legal analyst at a boutique D.C. law firm. Read more.
In celebration of International Education Week 2019, Nov. 18 to 22, UMW shares stories of students who have studied abroad. One in three Mary Washington students volunteers, interns, conducts research, or joins a faculty-led trip or other UMW-approved experience outside the United States, according to Center for International Education (CIE) Director Jose Sainz. Visit CIE or call (540) 654-1434 for more information.
Peace Corps Top Producer: UMW Alums Serve Globally
Once again the University of Mary Washington’s alumni commitment to global service has earned UMW recognition as a Peace Corps top producer.
Mary Washington took the 15th spot among U.S. schools with fewer than 5,000 students. The distinction marks the 11th consecutive year UMW has made the top 25. More than 260 Mary Washington alums have served the Peace Corps since its 1961 inception. Read more.
UMW History Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti Receives Prestigious Fulbright Grant
UMW Hosts Education Representatives
The University of Mary Washington hosted a delegation of high-level ministry and higher education representatives from eight countries on Feb. 23.
The representatives, who came to the U.S. from Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Vietnam, and the Philippines, visited as part of the EducationUSA Leadership Institute. The EducationUSA Leadership Institute was sponsored by the State Department and the Institute for International Education.
The delegation stayed in the U.S. from Feb. 16 to 24.
The goal of EducationUSA is to bring participants from select countries and world regions to the U.S. to increase their understanding of U.S. higher education, develop the tools necessary to build capacity within their own systems, and engage with the U.S. higher education in effective, sustained ways.
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- Salah Benabdallah, director of the mission Al Akhawayan, University of Ifrane, Morocco, and Nele Feldmann, Center for International Partnerships Institute for International Education, walk together through UMW campus.
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- Left to right: Salah Benabdallah, director of the mission Al Akhawayan at the University of Ifrane in Morocco, Cynthia Llanes, vice president for Academic Affairs at the Technological Institute of the Philippines, Beth Dennis, Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and Nele Feldmann, Center for International Partnerships Institute for International Education, warm up inside of the Information and Technology Convergence Center.
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- Left to right: Nele Feldmann, Program Manager for Center for International Partnerships Institute for International Education, Mhammed Chraibi, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Ifraine in Morocco, Jose A. Sainz, associate Professor of Spanish and Director of the Center for International Education at UMW, Oleksandra Lukianeknko, Chief Specialist of International Cooperation in Ukraine, and Beth Dennis, Program Officer at the Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, walk past Lee Hall at UMW.
