CONWAY, Ark. (March 17, 2009) – Hendrix College seniors T. C. Elliott and Benjamin Lownik were among the 40 national recipients of the renowned Watson Fellowship, the organization announced Monday. The award provides each Fellow $28,000 for a year of independent exploration and study outside the United States.
Elliott, of Pyatt, plans to study biomedical and cultural approaches to medicine in relation to tropical diseases in Brazil, Vietnam and Tanzania. His entry was titled, “Beliefs and Biomedicine: Investigating Culture and Health in the Tropics.”
Lownik, of Madison, Wis., plans to study how bicycles are adapted to address the needs of people from different socio-economic conditions in Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, China and Hungary. His entry was titled “A Revolutionary Vehicle: How Bicycles Transform Lives Throughout the World.”
As interesting as the projects are, “The awards are long-term investments in people, not research,” says Cleveland Johnson, Director of the Watson Fellowship Program and a former Watson Fellow. “We look for persons likely to lead or innovate in the future and give them extraordinary independence to pursue their interests outside of traditional academic structures. Watson Fellows are passionate learners, creative thinkers, and motivated self-starters who are encouraged to dream big but demonstrate feasible strategies for achieving their fellowship goals. The Watson Fellowship affords an unequalled opportunity for global experiential learning.”
This year’s 40 Watson Fellows come from 21 states and three foreign countries and exhibit a broad diversity of academic specialty, socio-economic background, and life experience. As the 41st class of Watson Fellows, they’ll traverse 78 countries, exploring topics from the poetry of Arab women, to endangered religions, to wolf/human interaction, to green entrepreneurship, to wildlife tracking.
Watson Fellows come from select private liberal arts colleges and universities. This year, 177 finalists competed on the national level, after their institutions nominated them in the fall. Hendrix College is the only college or university in Arkansas eligible to nominate a Watson Fellow.
The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program was established in 1968 by the children of Thomas J. Watson, Sr., the founder of International Business Machines Corp., and his wife, Jeannette K. Watson, to honor their parents’ long-standing interest in education and world affairs. The Watson Foundation regards its investment in people as an effective contribution to the global community.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.