News

Andrew Bonney has always been fascinated with Armenia and Turkey politics. After serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Armenia, Bonney fell in love with the country's politics, language, and culture. He graduated from BYU in 2023 studying middle eastern studies in Arabic, through the Kennedy Center, with a minor in economics. Bonney worked at the Carnegie Endowment for two years and currently resides in Washington D.C. with his wife and one-year-old son.

Christian Barker graduated from BYU in April 2025, with a degree in microbiology from at the College of Life Sciences. During the summer of 2024, Barker had the opportunity to intern at the University of Melbourne in Australia. His main focus was researching blood cancers. This sparked his interest in applying for the Fulbright.

Peter Demars has always found languages interesting. Before receiving his bachelor’s in linguistics and Portuguese from BYU’s College of Humanities in 2024, he served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Curitiba, Brazil for several months. After returning home due to the COVID pandemic, Demars was reassigned to Boston, Massachusetts for the remainder of his mission speaking Portuguese. Demars’ mission experiences helped to prepare him for the Fulbright Scholarship.

Berlin Barnett graduated from BYU in April 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in cell biology and physiology, College of Life Sciences. Before Barnett attends medical school, she will take a gap year as a Fulbright recipient to teach English in Kyrgyzstan beginning fall of 2025. Barnett loves to learn and hopes to incorporate her passions into her Fulbright journey.

Students who applied to prestigious scholarships this fall gathered for the “You Hit Submit!” dinner on October 14, where they received recognition for all the time and effort invested in their applications.

Katelyn Cranney, a BYU economics alumni and first-year graduate student at Stanford University, is a recipient of the 2025 Knight-Hennessy Scholar Program.

“My main focus is helping provide medical care to underserved communities,” Zach Valentine, 2025 Schwarzman Scholarship recipient, explained.

This year, 16 students and alumni from Brigham Young University have been named semi-finalists for the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Students who applied to prestigious scholarships this fall gathered for the “You Hit Submit!” dinner on October 14, where they received recognition for all the time and effort invested in their applications.