Nine University of Pennsylvania students and recent alumni were offered Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants for the 2025-2026 academic year. The list includes six members of the Class of 2025, who graduated in May, and three current graduate students.

This allows them to conduct research, pursue graduate degrees, or teach English. The Fulbright Program, which has rolling admissions, is the United States government’s flagship international educational exchange program, awarding grants to fund as long as 12 months of international experience. Penn consistently ranks as a “Top-Producing Institution” among those with the highest number of candidates selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

In addition to the recipients, seven Penn affiliates have been named alternates for Fulbright awards during this application cycle. Most of the Penn recipients applied for the Fulbright with support from the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.

Among Penn’s Fulbright grant recipients for 2025-2026 are three current graduate students:

Claire Elliot is a doctoral student in religious studies in the School of Arts & Sciences, studying modern Theravada Buddhism, primarily in Thailand and Sri Lanka. She graduated from Penn in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in religious studies. She has been offered a Fulbright to research contemporary dreaming practices in Thailand.

Arielle Hardy is a doctoral candidate in Penn’s art and archaeology of the mediterranean world graduate group in the School of Arts & Sciences. She has been offered a Fulbright Greece-Turkey Joint Research Award to study Hellenistic altars.

Theresa Haupt is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in bioengineering, concentrating in biomedical devices, from the School of Engineering & Applied Science. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2024 from Haverford College, which assisted in her Fulbright application. She has been offered a Fulbright to conduct research at the University of Melbourne in Australia, focusing on the kinematics of patients with lower limb osteoarthritis.

Six of the recipients graduated in May in the Class of 2025:

Leo Biehl earned a bachelor’s degree in urban studies and political science with a minor in German from the College of Arts & Sciences. He has been offered a Fulbright Community-Based Combined Award to Austria to study housing policy at TU Wien at the Vienna University of Technology and to explore the city’s novel approach to reducing homelessness by working for Neunerhaus, an Austrian community organization. He also would teach English at Austrian schools.

Emmie Chacker submatriculated to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in biology from the School of Arts & Sciences. She has been offered a Fulbright to study biology at the Berlin Institute of Health and Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Germany.

Timothy Lie earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the College. He has been offered a Fulbright to conduct research at Universitas Indonesia, exploring the role of mitochondrial DNA variants in dengue severity and investigating how mitochondrial function is permanently altered after dengue virus infection.

Henry McDaniel earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian and East European studies and diplomatic history from the College. He has been offered a Fulbright to teach English in Moldova.

Aleena Parenti earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics with a minor in Chinese language and culture and a certificate in French from the College. She has been offered a Fulbright to teach English in Taiwan.

Elan Roth earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematical logic with a minor in religious studies from the College. He has been offered a Fulbright to pursue mathematics research at the University of Waterloo in Canada, building on research in computable algebra, which classifies the difficulty of calculating properties of mathematical objects found in nature.

Additionally, Maria Balhara, an undergraduate student at Penn studying philosophy and religious studies, was awarded a place in a Fulbright Summer Institute to study at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. 

Several Penn alumni were also awarded Fulbright grants.