Southern Miss Office of Nationally Competitive Awards

Congratulations to Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Karen Coats, who has been selected for The Fulbright Scholars International Education Administrators (IEA) seminar to France! We appreciate her support of the Office's work with the Fulbright Student program.

Congratulations to all the Summer 2018 Gilman Scholars, but especially to USM's newest Gilman International Scholarship recipients: Sara Bibbs (UK), Lisa Brackeen (Spain), Deiundra Clark (Uganda), Robert J. Lares (UK), Nate Schumann (UK), Kaitlyn Skinner (France) and Candace Young (Spain). Kayla Galle and Shundrell McMullan were also chosen as alternates and will know next month if they will receive scholarships. This is our strongest Gilman cycle ever, well eclipsing last summer's 4 winners and 3 alternates. This makes a total of 11 Gilman Scholars this year with the fall cycle still to go.Congratulations everyone! Enjoy your summer!

Congratulations Summer 2018 Awardees! U.S. Department of State is proud to announce the Summer 2018 recipients. Thank you to all who applied- email notifications were sent to all applicants. For more information please visit our website: gilmanscholarship.org Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State

It has been a great year for polymer science majors! Congratulations again to Blake Martin, Erin Rae Crater, Michael Sandoz, Sarah Swilley, and Nathaniel Lee Prine! We look forward to watching you continue to soar.

USM Polymer Students Accrue National Scholarship Recognition | Southern Miss Now The University of Southern Mississippi’s polymer program has a renowned reputation for cultivating some of the country’s brightest young research scholars. As the 2017-18 academic year winds down, five more high-achieving polymer students have earned distinction from several national scholarship...

Congrats to Sara Bibbs and Alexandra Littlejohn who have won PKP Study Abroad Grants. They join Jack Hoda who won in the fall. Our three winners this year match our total in 2009!

USM Students Win Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Scholarships | Southern Miss Now Two University of Southern Mississippi students recently were awarded study abroad grants worth $1,000 each from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi — the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The students are part of a select group of 50 students...

Congratulations to Erin Rae Crater who is having quite the week! After receiving Honorable Mention for the Goldwater Scholarship on Friday, today she was appointed to the NOAA Office of Education, Class of 2018 Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program. Congratulations to Erin, her mentor, Jason Azoulay and the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials.

Congratulations to USM's two 2018 Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mentions, Michael Sandoz and Erin Rae Crater, and their respective mentors, Derek Patton and Jason Azoulay. Michael and Erin are both sophomore Polymer Science majors who will be eligible to apply again next year. They were selected from nearly 1300 nominated students, and are the only two Honorable Mentions awarded to a MS institution this year. The Goldwater Scholarship recognizes the next generation of research scientists, and these two continue a long tradition of USM students being recognized by the Goldwater Foundation.

This weekend Jack Hoda will travel from Exeter, England to Nashville, Tennessee for his Truman Scholarship interview. Jack was also recently named a Finalist for the Victory Fund Congressional Internship. We wish him well in both these ventures!

University of Southern Mississippi Junior Jack Hoda Named Truman Scholarship Finalist | Southern Miss Now University of Southern Mississippi junior Jack Hoda, an English major from Petal, Miss., can add one more impressive honor to his already gleaming academic portfolio – Truman Scholarship finalist. Hoda is the only USM student to be nominated for the Truman Scholarship this year.

Retweeted Robyn Curtis ():

Happy to be sharing these wonderful opportunities with advisors from around the country! https://t.co/wQM9uAwcuE

We love this story on 2014 alum, Brandon Hersey. Keep up the great work!

Southern Miss alum Brandon Hersey's passions are filled with purpose Hub City native has traveled across U.S. taking advantage of opportunities that will help him better impact the lives of young boys and men of color.

"I hope others see me as an example of what’s possible with a lot of determination and even more luck. I see myself as a testimony of what a poor black boy, a product of Hattiesburg Public Schools, can do not only for his community but communities across the country and world." We really enjoyed reading about all Brandon Kyle Hersey (’14) has accomplished since graduation, while continuing to work with the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards. Working with amazing scholars like Brandon is what makes our work so fulfilling.

Southern Miss Alumnus’ Passions are Filled with Purpose | Southern Miss Now

Meet our director!

Robyn Curtis is the Director of the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards. She is an Honors College alumna and the university’s only Mellon Fellow in Humanistic Studies and first Phi Kappa Phi National Fellow. After completing graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley, Robyn joined the Honors College staff as USM’s first full-time scholarship advisor in 2008. She helps students to identify nationally competitive programs they may be interested in applying for and assists them with all aspects of the application process. In July she was elected Secretary of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors and will serve as co-chair of the Best Practices Committee as part of her duties. Robyn planned to become a history professor specializing in the intersection of gender and expressions of sanctity in early modern Europe, but she found her true calling in fellowships advising which she describes as “the job I never knew I always wanted.”