Kent State Welcomes Four Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellows

This fall semester, Kent State University welcomed four new international students as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program. Joining the Kent State community this year are Nino Beradze from Georgia, Kanat Jakupov from Kazakhstan, Seymur Mammadli from Azerbaijan, and Lolagul Raimbekova from Tajikistan.

“It is an honor and is very competitive to receive Muskie scholars at an academic institution,” said Dr. Mary Anne Saunders, executive director of Kent State’s Office of Global Education. “Having Muskie scholars reflects well on Kent State University as well as the academic departments.”

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 to encourage economic and democratic growth in Eurasia, the Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State, and administered by IREX. By selecting emerging leaders from 12 countries of the former Soviet Union, the Muskie program aims to promote mutual understanding, build democracy and foster the transition to market economies in Eurasia through intensive academic study and professional training. In addition to their academic programs, Muskie fellows gain exposure to American values through a community service experience and develop professional skills through a full-time internship in their field of study.

The Muskie program is highly competitive, averaging nearly 4,000 applications per year with a 4 percent rate of acceptance. For more information, visit www.irex.org/programs/muskie.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries to promote friendly, sympathetic and peaceful relations, as mandated by the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchanges Act of 1961. ECA accomplishes its mission through a range of programs based on the benefits of mutual understanding, international educational and cultural exchange, and leadership development. For more information about ECA exchanges, visit http://exchanges.state.gov.

For more information on Kent State, visit www.kent.edu.

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Media Contact:
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595