Eleven Oklahoma State students receive Humphrey's Study Abroad
Thursday, January 13, 2011
“Recognizing the life changing impact study abroad had on their own daughters, the Humphreys wanted to extend the opportunity to OSU students by opening additional avenues for financial support,” said Jeff Simpson, OSU Study Abroad advisor.
The eleven students are the first recipients of the Humphreys Scholarship. They represent eleven academic majors and ten study sites.
“During a three-year period in my career, my family and I lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That experience gave us a deep appreciation for the importance of knowing how to conduct business across different customs, geography and politics,” said Donald Humphreys, a senior executive at Exxon Mobil Corp. “For students at Oklahoma State to be genuinely prepared to work in today’s increasingly interdependent world, they must have opportunities to study in other countries. Cathey and I are very pleased to be able to make this gift to OSU in support of the President’s vision to make sure our students are indeed given educational experiences that will stimulate intellectual growth and deliver a truly global perspective.”
As the students gathered in OSU’s Edmon Low Library before departing on their respective programs, they were already planning how to record their experiences and share their reflections through blogs and Facebook. Dr. David Henneberry, interim Associate Vice President for International Studies and Outreach, met with the students to offer congratulations and encouragement in serving as ambassadors for international education at OSU.
Victoria Jurenko will be studying in both Finland and Scotland as a participant in a three semester dual degree program funded by FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education), a program within the U.S. Department of Education. She plans to complete an internship in Australia during the summer between the academic semesters.
“This scholarship meant easing the burden of paying for Finland, and has helped provide the opportunity for me to work in Australia over the summer,” Jurenko said. “I will be gone for 18-20 months due to the program that I am in through the HRAD department. I will be studying in Finland for one semester and in Aberdeen, Scotland for two semesters.”
The Don and Cathey Humphreys Study Abroad Endowed Scholarship was established to provide students with demonstrated need, the opportunity to fund long-term study abroad experiences. The scholarship is open to OSU undergraduate and graduate students participating in credit bearing programs and activities outside the U.S. Award amounts are tailored to documented student need and program choice.
The Humphreys study abroad gift totaled $6 million and $100,000 was made immediately available for study abroad scholarships in the 2010-2011 academic year.