CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Nine University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students and recent graduates were offered Fulbright grants to pursue international education, research and teaching experiences around the globe this coming year.
Seven of the awardees have accepted grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which builds international relationships to help solve global challenges. This flagship international educational exchange program of the U.S. government awards grants to students based on their academic and professional achievement as well as their ambassadorial skills and leadership potential. The Fulbright student program will fund more than 2,000 U.S. citizens to live abroad for the 2026-27 academic year.
“The Fulbright program provides opportunities not just around the globe, but across disciplines,” said David Schug, director of the National and International Scholarships Program at Illinois. “Our Illinois recipients are pursuing careers in law, medicine and education. They are future environmentalists, immigration specialists and professors, all seeking to enrich their profession and better support others with their Fulbright experiences.”
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John Armenta
John Armenta, of Cortland, Ill., will teach English in France — a continuation of his previous study as a Gilman Scholar working as a teaching assistant in a middle school of a Paris suburb. He is the first U. of I. undergraduate student to pursue a customized major in French language instruction (teaching in French). As a first-generation Mexican American and graduate of Dekalb High School, he is eager to connect French students to some of the unique and unfamiliar aspects of the U.S. and serve as a bridge between cultures. Armenta has developed a passion for the French language through his studies at Illinois and in his time abroad, pairing that love of the language with his other passion of teaching students of all backgrounds and identities. After completing the Fulbright term, Armenta plans to teach high school French in Illinois and pursue graduate studies in applied linguistics.
Mariel Galvan
Mariel Galvan, of Chicago, holds a bachelor’s degree in integrative biology from Illinois and will teach English in Spain. As a heritage speaker of Spanish, Galvan also intensively studied the language in practical, immersive settings. Recently, that experience took place during her Peace Corps assignment in Costa Rica, where she facilitated soft-skills workshops and the sharing of American culture with Spanish-speaking residents of the country across 18 months. Her passion for the English teaching component of her Peace Corps assignment spurred her to pursue the Fulbright grant. Galvan, who graduated from Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School in Chicago, plans to attend medical school following her Fulbright award, with the ultimate goal of using the skills she has gained to give back to underserved Black and Hispanic families in her hometown.
Kaleigh Mueller
Kaleigh Mueller, also of Chicago, received her bachelor’s degree in global studies from Illinois this spring and will teach English in South Korea. Mueller has been an avid learner of the Korean language, self-teaching during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic while a student at The Chicago High School for the Arts before taking formal classes in college. She spent a study abroad term at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, and earned a minor in East Asian language from Illinois. Yet what fueled her curiosity about the language most came from exchanges with a Korean pen pal, allowing her to develop a sense of Korean language from a native speaker while also forming her early experience in teaching English. After spending her academic career learning from and working with experts who are passionate about their field of study, Mueller intends to earn a Ph.D. following her Fulbright experience and pursue a professorship in sociolinguistics.
Riley Parks
Riley Parks, from Fisher, Ill., graduated from Illinois in May with a bachelor’s degree in English along with a minor in secondary education. She will use her Fulbright award to teach English in Taiwan — another step in her journey to become an interculturally skilled teacher. Parks, who attended Fisher Jr./Sr. High School, studied in Asia previously as a winner of the Gilman International Scholarship, teaching K-6 students in an urban school in Thailand. Working with these students cemented her desire to become a teacher and to apply for a more extensive teaching experience through the Fulbright program. Parks has received a graduate fellowship from the University of Washington to study early childhood education administration and policy upon her return from Taiwan. She plans to incorporate Taiwanese teaching methods in American public school classrooms and create a pen pal or extracurricular program that will allow for cross-cultural communication between her current U.S. students and her previous students in Taiwan.
Karel Pene
Karel Pene, of Evanston, Ill., earned bachelor’s degrees in global studies and psychology this spring and will use her Fulbright award to teach English in South Korea. As a first-generation immigrant from Cameroon who attended Evanston Township High School, she is fluent in French and learning Swahili in addition to Korean. Pene previously studied in South Korea in 2024 at Chungnam National University as an awardee of the Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State. She received the Foreign Language Scholarship in 2025 for a semester of study at Yonsei University, where she studied Korean law and history and volunteered as an English assistant for a North Korean human rights NGO. Pene also interned at a Korean technology company to deepen her familiarity with the culture and the use of sustainable technology in the country. Her future goals include working professionally in South Korea, leveraging her language skills and interests in sustainability to aid international organizations in achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development benchmarks and support positive relations between South Korea and African countries.
Nina Stepaniants
Nina Stepaniants, of Gurnee, Ill., earned a bachelor’s degree in global studies and a minor in French from Illinois. Stepaniants will teach English in Armenia, which holds a special significance for her as she has an Armenian father. She grew up in a bilingual Russian/English household and visited Armenia while in high school at Lake Forest High. She seeks to continue building her English teaching skills in support of her passion for helping refugees and migrants as they integrate into new communities. Stepaniants has taught English to refugee populations — both on campus and in her hometown — for multiple organizations, such as Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America. After teaching in Armenia, she plans to build welcoming communities for refugees, working in case management for local nonprofits to make an impact at the community level. She also will pursue a master’s degree and a career in advocacy in order to foster more large-scale change at a national and international level.
Noam Zipris
Noam Zipris, who is from Highland Park, Ill., will use his Fulbright award to earn a master’s degree in advanced public and cultural diplomacy for international relations at the L’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy. Zipris received a bachelor’s degree in history with minors in Italian and legal studies this spring from Illinois. He dedicated substantial time beyond his courses at Illinois gaining a fuller understanding of Italy’s language, history and education system. Zipris’ interest originated from a routine course to fulfill a language requirement in his first year of college and evolved into taking yearly Italian courses at Illinois, enrolling in an immersive summer program at Middlebury College in Vermont and eventually studying abroad for a term at the University of Pavia in the Lombardy region of Italy. Upon completing his Fulbright experience, the Highland Park High School alumnus intends to pursue a juris doctor degree with a concentration in international law, combining his legal expertise and knowledge of Italy to contribute to the diplomatic relationship between Italy and the United States.
