The George J. Mitchell Scholarships are administered by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance. Winners of these prestigious scholarships are selected to pursue a year of postgraduate study at universities on the island of Ireland. Created in 1998, the scholarship program was named in honor of U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who was chair of the Northern Ireland peace talks.
In the past the program has been funded by the U.S. Department of State but this funding has been eliminated. The U.S.-Ireland Alliance is attempting to raise a $40 million endowment so that the scholarship program will continue in perpetuity.
This year’s class of 12 Mitchell Scholars was chosen from 323 applicants. Seven of the 12 new Mitchell Scholars are women.
Margaret Born is a senior at Michigan State University, where she is majoring in Arabic and comparative cultures and politics. Born in Africa to U.S. aid workers, she grew up in Mozambique but returned to the United State to attend high school in Wyoming. She works as an intern focusing on women’s rights issues for a Michigan state representative. In Ireland, Born will study international development, environment, and conflict at Dublin City University.
Megan Hind is a student at Harvard University, where she is majoring in neurobiology. Her research is focused on brain circuitry relating to decision-making. She is the director of the Bureau of Study Counsel’s Student Liaisons at Harvard, a group that advises student on academic/life balance. Hind will study values and knowledge at the National University of Ireland in Galway.
Miranda Klugesherz is a graduate of Hastings College in Nebraska, where she majored in sociology and communication studies and was a member of the debate team. She currently is enrolled in a master’s degree program in communications at Kansas State University. Klugesherz has been active in several programs relating to hunger issues. In Ireland, she will study social policy at University College Cork.
Elizabeth Sell is a senior at Princeton University in New Jersey, where she is majoring in chemistry. She serves as an emergency medical technician for the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad. She received a grant to conduct a study of global electronic waste in Ghana. Sell plans to go to medical school but first will study gender, sexuality, and culture at University College Dublin.
Lacey Smith is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in health and human sciences. She is currently in Haiti working as a global health fellow for Medical Missionaries, a U.S.-based nonprofit. As an undergraduate, she conducted research in Thailand on waterborne illness. She will study immunology and global health at Maynooth University in Kildare, Ireland.
May Treuhaft-Ali is a senior at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where she is majoring in theater studies. A playwright, Treuhaft-Ali was twice asked to participate in the Blank Theatre Company’s Young Playwright’s Festival, a national competition. Treuhaft-Ali will study theatre and performance at Trinity College Dublin.
Kathleen White is a graduate of Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and peace studies and was president of the college’s Just Peace, a human rights and social action organization. After college, she has been working for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps’ Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth project. She will study sociology at University College Cork.