USC again named a top producer of U.S. Fulbright students

USC on Tuesday was named a top producer of U.S. Fulbright students for 2025-26.

Nineteen USC students and recent alumni have been awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants, which provide funding for individually designed study/research projects or for English teaching assistant programs. The Fulbright program grants are funded primarily by the U.S. Department of State.

“Our Fulbright scholars demonstrate the best of USC’s culture of academic excellence,” USC Provost Andrew T. Guzman said. “By taking their skills, enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity with them to destinations around the world, these top students and alumni are not only having great impact, they are also global ambassadors demonstrating the value of a USC education.”

The Fulbright programs provide the opportunity for recipients to expand their perspective, connect with others and improve their understanding of different cultures and countries. Each year, more than 2,000 students, early-career professionals and artists are provided a one-year Fulbright grant.

The Fulbright programs are the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange effort. Since 1946, the Fulbright programs have provided more than 400,000 grants and scholarships to participants who are chosen for their academic merit and leadership qualities.

2025-26 USC Fulbright students

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant Programs. USC students applying for Fulbright are supported by the university’s Academic Honors and Fellowships unit.. (For more information, contact the unit via email.) These are USC’s participants in the 2025-26 Fulbright U.S. Student Program:

Liliana Adkins graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and minors in Russian and urban sustainable planning. Adkins won an English Teaching Assistant Award in Bulgaria to facilitate interactive lessons that prioritize cultural exchange. Adkins plans to enroll in law school with hopes of becoming a public defender.

Maximilian Brichta will graduate in May with a doctorate in communications. Brichta won an Open Study/Research Award to El Salvador to conduct an ethnographic study of grassroots efforts to diffuse Bitcoin throughout El Salvador and assess whether its purported benefits are materializing. Brichta will return to defend his dissertation, receive his doctorate and find a job in academia.

Yvette Castañeda graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, politics and law and a minor in education policy. Castañeda won an English Teaching Assistant Award in Spain to learn from the local trilingual education system to help multilingual students in the United States. Castañeda plans to attend law school and pursue a career in education policy and public service.

Josey Cuthrell-Tuttleman graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film and television production with a minor in law and social justice. She won an Open Study/Research Award to Germany to research and then write a screenplay centered on the years Isadora Duncan lived and taught young girls in Berlin. Cuthrell-Tuttleman will continue pursuing a career in the film industry as a writer, director and producer.

Joseph Douglass graduated in May 2025 with a Doctor of Musical Arts in classical guitar performance from the USC Thornton School of Music. He received an Open Study/Research Award to Brazil to conduct neuroscience research on how brain regions interconnect during the learning of music and computational thinking. Douglass plans to pursue a career as a professor, musician and scholar.

Laura Findlay graduated in May 2024 with a master’s in visual anthropology, a bachelor’s in archaeology and a minor in cinematic arts. She won an Open Study/Research Award to Jordan to combine her documentary filmmaking and anthropological research skills to understand and document how community archaeology projects in Jordan can encourage public ownership and involvement in heritage. Findlay plans to use visual storytelling to foster heritage appreciation and cross-cultural understanding and respect.

Blanca Godoy graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a minor in social work and juvenile justice. Godoy won an English Teaching Assistant Award to Mexico to learn about local issues, furthering the recent educational reforms that prioritize culturally sustaining pedagogy. Godoy plans to attend law school and pursue a career in civil rights and criminal defense.

Jonathan Hayden graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in English (creative writing) and East Asian languages and cultures. Hayden won an English Teaching Assistant Award in Taiwan to use their experience with literature, visual art and music to teach language through culture. Hayden intends to pursue a graduate degree in English with a focus on cultural studies, continuing their research on language, culture and the arts.

Ivana Karastoeva graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in global studies and minor in spatial studies, as well as a Master of Arts in public administration. Karastoeva won an English Teaching Assistant Award in Turkey to use her anthropology-focused major to put her academic studies into practice. She plans to pursue a career in cultural heritage preservation with UNESCO’s Living Heritage Entity cultural center.

Raegan Lusk graduated in May 2025 with a bachelor’s in international relations and a minor in human rights. She won an English Teaching Assistant Award in South Korea, combining her four years as a preschool teacher through the Americorps Jumpstart program with her research on Korean soft power and public diplomacy. She plans to attend law school and continue her public service career advocating for international justice.

Melody McBride graduated in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in human biology and a Bachelor of Art in East Asian languages and cultures. McBride won an English Teaching Assistant Award to Taiwan to deepen her understanding of Taiwanese culture and strengthen her cross-cultural communication skills. McBride plans to apply to medical school and hopes to integrate insights from this experience into a career as a culturally responsive physician.

Sara Mendoza graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience, Bachelor of Art in art history and Master of Science in global medicine. Mendoza won an Open Study/Research Award to Denmark to research the ability of rhythmic musical interventions to promote prosocial behavior via neural synchrony. Mendoza will matriculate to Boston University School of Medicine, where she will pursue an MD-PhD to become a physician-scientist.

Connor Morgan graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences. Morgan won an Open Study/Research Grant to Germany to research epigenetic changes in leukemias at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. Morgan plans to pursue an MD-PhD to become a pediatric oncologist.

Claire Oberle graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in public policy and minors in risk management and cultural diplomacy. Oberle won an English Teaching Assistant Award in Cambodia to integrate media, public speaking and journalism into the classroom, and work with ReMade in Cambodia, expanding her research on sustainable fashion. She plans to pursue a career in public affairs and corporate social responsibility.

Jasmine Sears graduated in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies. Sears won the Fulbright-Nehru Open Study/Research Award in India to examine the opportunity to expand adoption of wastewater treatment practices across India’s textile sector, to improve water quality and associated economic, social and environmental outcomes. She plans to work in social and environmental compliance consulting, advising textile companies on how to adhere to best practices established by the government and sustainability-specific organizations.

Anya Shah graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in global health and minor in natural sciences as well as a Master of Science in narrative medicine. Shah won the Open Study/Research Award to the United Kingdom to enhance early lung cancer detection through a multimodal approach combining circulating tumor cells and cell-free DNA analysis from liquid biopsies. She plans to pursue an MD-PhD in oncology, integrating clinical practice with research to advance early cancer detection tools.

Micah Slater graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in cinema and media studies and minor in Russian. Slater won the Open Study/Research Award to the Netherlands to pursue a master’s in preservation and presentation of the moving image at the University of Amsterdam. He plans to work as a trained archivist either in the Academy Museum in Los Angeles or the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.

Alexandra Stanczak graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in human biology and a minor in health care studies. Stanczak won an Open Study/Research Award to Poland to study the physiological effects of intergenerational trauma in pregnant women. She will also contribute to an ongoing study on stress biomarkers in Ukrainian refugees while volunteering at a local pediatric hospital. She hopes to attend medical school in the United States.

Maylian Wu graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in human biology and a Bachelor of Arts in non-governmental organizations and social change. Wu won an English Teaching Assistant Award in Taiwan to integrate her experience in outdoor education to share a love and appreciation for the environment outside of the classroom. She hopes to attend medical school and pursue pediatric medicine.