Three Yale juniors win prestigious scholarships for study and research

Three Yale juniors have been announced as winners of prestigious scholarships for study and research.

Jane Zhang has been named a 2018 Udall Scholar, Fernando Rojas has been awarded a Beinecke Scholarship, and Jonathan Greenberg has won a Boren Scholarship.

Udall Scholar

Zhang is among 50 sophomores and juniors selected from among 437 candidates representing 42 colleges and universities across the United States. A double major in political science and history, she is the first Yalie to win the award since 2015. In addition to conducting research on transnational environmental policy, Zhang has worked as a college coordinator for the Yale Office of Sustainability and as a policy intern in the U.S. House of Representatives. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to go on to law school and pursue a career focused on international collaboration to control global air pollution.

An independent review committee selected the group of Udall Scholars on the basis of commitment to careers in the environment, Native health care, or tribal public policy; leadership potential; record of public service; and academic achievement. The review committee also awarded 50 Honorable Mentions, including Andrew Sparkman ’19.

Established by Congress in 1992, the Udall Foundation awards scholarships, fellowships, and internships for study in fields related to the environment and to Native Americans and Alaska Natives in fields related to health care and tribal public policy; provides funding to the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy to conduct policy research and outreach on the environment and related themes and to the Native Nations Institute for research, education, and outreach on Native American and Alaska Native health care issues and tribal public policy issues; and provides assessment, mediation, training and other related services through the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution.

Beinecke Scholar

Rojas’ Beinecke Scholarship will support his pursuit of a Ph.D. in history. He is one of only 20 college juniors nationwide to win this competitive award. In addition to working in the Ezra Stiles College Office, Rojas volunteers as a translator and leads both WORD and the Latinx Pre-Law Society. He received a Mellon Mays fellow in 2017, which has supported his research on popular resistance movements in Cold War-era Mexico.

The Beinecke Scholarship was created in 1975 to support graduate education in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The scholarship provides $4,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school along with an additional $30,000 award during graduate school. The award is tenable at any graduate school worldwide, and Beinecke scholars may supplement their award with other fellowships or funds.

Boren Scholar

The Boren Scholarship will support Greenberg’s study of Hindi through the South Asian Languages Flagship Initiative. Greenberg, a double major in history and South Asian Studies, is co-editor of the Yale Daily News and has a weekly radio show at WYBC. After completing his studies at Yale, he hopes to go on to work in the foreign service or as an intelligence analyst.

Boren Scholarships, an initiative of the National Security Education Program, provides funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate students to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests, and underrepresented in study abroad. Greenberg is one of 221 Boren Scholars selected from among 794 applicants this year. Scholars will live in 38 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. They will study 33 different languages. The most popular languages include Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, Swahili, and Korean.

Boren Scholars represent a pool of highly motivated individuals who wish to work in the federal national security arena. In exchange for funding, Boren Scholars commit to working in the federal government for at least one year after graduation.

Students interested in the Udall, Beinecke, Boren, or other awards may contact the Office of Fellowships Programs in the Center for International and Professional Experience.