The US-Ireland Alliance has announced the 12 members of the George J. Mitchell Scholar Class of 2025. The scholarship program was named in honor of U.S. Senator George Mitchell’s role as chairman of the Northern Ireland peace talks. As one of the country’s most prestigious scholarship programs, it sends future American leaders to the island of Ireland for a year of graduate study.
This year, six of the 12 Mitchell Scholars are women.
Anika Cho, of Beaverton, Oregon, is a senior at the University of Alabama studying electrical engineering and physics. She is interested in developing acoustic methods and technologies that will advance ocean exploration. She will study electrical and electronic engineering at University College Cork.
Anna Clark, of Tokyo, Japan, and Danbury, Connecticut, and currently living in the Philippines, is a senior at Stanford University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics and a master’s degree in management science and engineering. She is interested in macro-scale power systems engineering to design more efficient and resilient energy systems. Clark will study smart and sustainable cities at Trinity College Dublin.
Elizaveta “Lisa” Maslovskaya is a senior at the University of Oklahoma where she is studying creative media production and French. She is an immigrant from Russia and a year ago became a U.S. citizen. Her most recent documentary film is on Ukrainian refugees in the United States and their lives 1.5 years into the war. She will study documentary filmmaking at Dublin City University.
Chloe Nguyen, of Las Vegas, Nevada, is a senior at Duke University where she studies public policy with a minor in psychology. She is the founder of Duke Justice Project, a club addressing mass incarceration and improving re-entry in North Carolina. Nguyen will study digital policy at University College Dublin.
Isabel Plakas, a resident of New York City, is pursuing a master’s degree in nursing at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore. Her undergraduate degree in psychology is from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She will study study addiction recovery at Trinity College Dublin.
Kiera Sky Torpie, from New York City, is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans where she obtained a degree in linguistics and international development. She currently works part-time as a House Manager at a nonprofit theatre in New York. Torpie will study creative writing at Queen’s University Belfast.