From Brigham Young University to the world: Three alumni chosen for Fulbright Scholarships

Three recent Brigham Young University graduates have been awarded a unique opportunity to expand their perspectives and shape their futures while living abroad. Braden Hintze, Jane Lundgren, and Joshua Webster-Ford, winners of Fulbright Scholarships, are prepared to share their light with people around the globe.

Hintze, Lundgren, and Webster-Ford are 2024-2025 Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarship recipients. BYU graduates, Stetler Tanner and Conor Thomas, were selected as alternates. A Fulbright grant funds graduate study, research, or English teaching abroad for recent college graduates, graduate students, and professionals. The program’s mission is for recipients to experience rich cultural exchange, create international connections and immerse themselves in different cultures and perspectives.

“Successful Fulbright applicants are those who not only demonstrate academic and personal excellence, but are committed to building meaningful, lasting connections with people in their Fulbright host countries,” said Amy McLaughlin, National Scholarships and Prestigious Fellowships coordinator. “Braden, Jane, and Joshua all exemplify these qualities and will be exceptional representatives of the United States and BYU during their experiences abroad.”

The three Fulbright recipients shared how their experiences throughout life and their BYU educations have prepared them to make an impact on the world as they continue in their plans post-graduation.

Braden Hintze

Braden Hintze, a recent BYU Neuroscience graduate, College of Life Sciences, received the Fulbright Malawi English Teaching Assistantship Award. This award is a nine-month grant that includes teaching English in the classroom and a project chosen by the recipient. Hintze began his time in Malawi this September.

Hintze’s interest in the medical field and studying the brain led him to study neuroscience at BYU. Hintze said his study of neuroscience gives him a unique perspective as a teacher, as it helps him better grasp how students understand and retain information. He said he has always enjoyed teaching.

“I really love learning from different perspectives and learning how people think and what makes us human, which has a lot to do with the brain,” Hintze said.

Hintze was a teacher’s assistant for Chem 105 for three years, volunteered to teach English second language classes for three years, volunteered in hospice, and started a peer mentoring program for BYU pre-med students. He also co-founded a nonprofit, Donor Link, a platform that enables a connection between donors and local needs. The nonprofit won a competition for innovative and new nonprofit ideas.

For his Fulbright grant project, in addition to his time teaching English, Hintze will work with humanitarian groups. Hintze has a career interest in the humanitarian and medical field, and engaging with humanitarian groups in Malawi will help him determine a career path he wants to pursue long-term. Hintze is enthusiastic to be involved in both humanitarian and teaching work during his Fulbright experience.

“I'm looking forward to the overall experience of being in a new culture, being able to create these friendships and connections with different communities than you find here in the States,” Hintze said. “If I decide I want to go to humanitarian work, I won't be very effective as a doctor in that field if I don't understand the cultural dynamics of the region.”

While living in Malawi, Hintze will apply to medical schools. After his English Teaching Assistantship, he will take another gap year to research epilepsy treatments at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, where he conducted research through the BYU Summer Pre-Medical Research Internship Program for the past two summers.

The office of National Scholarships and Prestigious Fellowships guided Hintze through the Fulbright application process, helping him gain a better understanding of the scholarship. A board of previous Fulbright winners and other BYU faculty and staff also reviewed Hintze’s application and provided feedback to strengthen his submission.

Hintze encouraged students considering applying for the scholarship to submit an application, even if they are hesitant due to the time commitment or timing of a Fulbright in their lives, as it is always possible to withdraw if life plans change.

He also advised future Fulbright applicants to “show, don’t tell.” Hintze said rather than telling the readers of the application what conclusions they should draw; applicants should allow the readers to draw their own conclusions from the stories shared in the application.

Jane Lundgren

Jane Lundgren, a Russian, College of Humanities, graduate, received the Latvia Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award. She began the nine-month grant this September.

Last summer Lundgren interned in Riga, Latvia with the nonprofit group Young Folks, working with youth and Ukrainian refugees to help them be involved with and find a place in their community. Her positive experience as an intern in Latvia inspired her to apply for a Fulbright grant in the country.

“I loved the people and the culture and the experience overall,” Lundgren said. “I felt like I had connections there already, so it was exciting to be able to apply to a place where I might be able to go back and still interact with some of those same organizations and people.”

When considering the different types of Fulbright scholarships, Lundgren ultimately chose to apply for an English Teaching Assistantship for the opportunity to interact with the students within their own context, to be able to better understand their unique backgrounds.

“That's something I wanted from Fulbright, was to be able to connect with people based on who they were, not who I thought that they were, or who I thought they'd be,” Lundgren said.

Lundgren loves teaching and making connections with the people she teaches. Last year, Lundgren taught math, science, and marine science at a small middle school on an island off the coast of South Carolina. Her parents had recently moved to the island and were involved in the brand-new school and told Lundgren about an opportunity to teach there. She loved being involved in the community and making a meaningful difference in the lives of her students.

Lundgren is applying to medical schools and will attend medical school after her time in Latvia. A Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship is a precursor experience to Lundgren’s career interest in humanitarian medicine. The Fulbright will provide Lundgren with opportunities to interact with and build connections with people in a professional setting.

“As a doctor, all the time you're interacting with people that believe differently, think differently, or behave differently. With the Fulbright, you have the opportunity to interact with people that have completely different beliefs, and then you figure out how to work with them and how to build trust and build a relationship so you can do something productive together.”

Lundgren looks forward to the new adventure of living abroad as a Fulbright scholar. Finding housing, figuring out cell service, and using public transport, all in a foreign country, will be a challenging yet exciting experience for Lundgren.

“Whenever anyone asks me where I want to live, I always say ‘everywhere.’ I'm excited to actually be able to start doing that. It's something that I want to do for the rest of my life,” Lundgren said. “I want to be able to live lots of different places and experience lots of different cultures.”

During her undergrad, Lundgren studied abroad at the BYU Jerusalem center, where she experienced new and foreign cultures. At BYU, Lundgren’s experience in the Russian major increased her understanding of different cultures and helped her see the world through a new lens. She learned how to approach foreign cultures in effective and meaningful ways.

Lundgren said McLaughlin, National Scholarships coordinator, helped direct all of Lundgren’s thoughts and ideas into the Fulbright application, and was a “great resource” to turn to with questions about the program.

Lundgren enjoyed meeting people at BYU, seeing how others lived the gospel, and applying the gospel to her own studies. One of Lundgren’s favorite aspects of attending BYU was the caliber of the people at the university.

“It makes BYU a really special place,” Lundgren said. “There are great people everywhere, but there's something a little bit different about BYU.”

Joshua Webster-Ford

Joshua Webster-Ford, recipient of the 2024-2025 Fulbright Master’s Degree Program Awards: China Medical University Award in Chinese Medicine, with his Honors Program stole at BYU graduation.

Joshua Webster-Ford, an Honors Program alumnus, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, College of Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences. Webster-Ford is the recipient of the Fulbright Master’s Degree Program Awards: China Medical University Award in Chinese Medicine. Due to other educational opportunities, Webster-Ford made the decision to decline the Fulbright grant to pursue further education at the University of Oxford.

Webster-Ford and his wife are both attending the University of Oxford this fall to begin their master’s degrees. Webster-Ford is pursuing a Master of Medical Physics with Radiobiology and his wife is pursuing a Master of Economics.

Webster-Ford's BYU Honors Program thesis expanded on research he conducted on Huntington’s disease during a summer fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. Webster-Ford said his experience in the Honors Program was instrumental in preparing him for the Fulbright. The Honors Program’s focus on interdisciplinary study influenced his Fulbright application.

“Even though I was biochemistry, I took a couple of Chinese classes and really loved it,” Webster-Ford said. “That helped to show the Fulbright committee I'm ready to do this. The program I applied for was Chinese medicine, so it showed I'm ready to learn medicine but also, I'm ready and excited to learn Chinese, culture, food, and everything that comes with that too.”

This last summer, Webster-Ford was a fellow for the BYU Simmons Center for Cancer Research, researching bone cancer at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia.

At BYU, Webster-Ford conducted research with the BYU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and with a professor of Chinese, examining how people with disabilities were viewed differently in Taiwan and mainland China by exploring books and movies.

Webster-Ford enjoyed being involved in research opportunities at BYU; his ideal career would allow him to both practice medicine and conduct medical research.

“I've always really enjoyed learning languages and experiencing new culture, so that's something I want to pursue as well,” Webster-Ford said. “Medicine is a good way to do that, because talking with patients day-to-day, you encounter people from all over the world.”

The office of National Scholarships and Prestigious Fellowships assisted Webster-Ford in his Fulbright application through mock interviews, reviewing application materials and providing feedback on how to best shape his application to fit his future goals.

Webster-Ford encouraged students interested in a Fulbright program to apply, even if they feel underqualified. He also advised students to strengthen connections and build rapport with professors and mentors to request letters of recommendation from in the future.

“It was seriously such a big honor to receive my scholarship,” Webster-Ford said. “It was cool to know BYU is the kind of school that helps people get a Fulbright and other really prestigious scholarships.”

Fulbright Scholarship applications for 2025-2026 are now open. A Fulbright grant offers graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals a unique opportunity to experience foreign cultures after completing their undergrad. Fulbright recipients interact with the people in host countries while pursuing research interests, higher education, or teaching English classes. A Fulbright grant helps BYU alumni continue to lead a life of learning and service.

Contact the office of National Scholarships and Prestigious Fellowships, at national.scholarships@byu.edu to learn more about the different opportunities available through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to learn more about the different opportunities available through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.