CONWAY, Ark. (March 17, 2015) – Hendrix senior Audrey Morrow, an anthropology major from Sherman, Texas, was recently awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.
This year, from nearly 700 candidates, 150 finalists were nominated to compete on the national level from which 50 fellows were selected. Read the complete awardee profiles
here.
In her Watson Fellowship project, titled “Coast-to-Coast in Search of Equity,” Morrow will visit Canada, Finland, New Zealand and Guatemala.
“In an effort to improve the educational outcomes of students from marginalized populations, I would like to witness how other educational systems in the world handle equity,” Morrow wrote. “Are they using programmatic or curricular solutions? Do they offer support for parents or focus on teacher
training? How do other systems address diversity and poverty? Regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and tax bracket all children should have the chance for prosperity in their education, and a Watson year will allow me to be a student of the world and learn critical lessons from other countries’
successes and failures.”
“The Watson Fellowship is like the Rhodes or Marshall in having an intensely competitive selection process, so this is a great honor for Audrey and a testament to the support our students receive from Hendrix faculty and staff,” said Hendrix President Bill Tsutsui. “We are truly excited for
Audrey and wish her the very best for her Watson year.”
“Our 2015 class of TJW fellows comes from 19 states and eight countries and exhibits a broad range of academic specialty, socio-economic background, and life experience,” said Watson Foundation Executive Director Chris Kasabach. “As the 47th class of Watson Fellows,
they’ll traverse 78 countries exploring topics ranging from artificial reef communities to criminal justice; from cross-cultural comedy to global cinema; from childhood education to smart grids.”
Prior to Morrow, 32 Hendrix students have received Watson Fellowships.
About
the Watson Foundation
In 1961 the Foundation was established as a charitable trust by Mrs. Jeannette K. Watson in honor of her late husband, Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM. In 1968, in recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Watson's long-standing interest in education and world affairs, their children decided
that the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program should constitute a major activity of the Foundation.
About
the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship
Over 2,700 Watsons have been named since the Fellowship's founding in 1968. A Watson Year provides fellows with an opportunity to test their aspirations, abilities and perseverance through a personal project that is cultivated on an international scale. Watson Fellows have gone on to become
international leaders in their fields including CEOs of major corporations, college presidents, MacArthur grant recipients, Pulitzer Prize winners, diplomats, artists, lawyers, doctors, faculty, journalists, and many renowned researchers and innovators.
About
Hendrix
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. This year, Hendrix was named the country’s #1 “Up and Coming” liberal arts college and #8 in the nation for “Best Undergraduate Teaching” by U.S.
News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the 2015 Fiske Guide to Colleges, Forbesmagazine's list of America's Top Colleges, the 2014 Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, and the latest edition of Colleges That Change
Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.