Nine recent alumni of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have received Fulbright U.S. Student Grants for the 2026-27 academic year. In recognition of the recipients’ academic excellence, professional success and leadership qualities, the grants will provide support as they pursue graduate education, engage in research or teach English abroad.
“Every Fulbright recipient shows us exactly what happens when a student refuses to play it safe with their potential,” said Amber Williams, senior vice provost for student success and chief honors officer. “At UT, student success isn’t just about a GPA or a degree. It is about these exact moments when learning pushes beyond the classroom and into the real world, helping students discover who they are meant to be. As these scholars head out to research, teach and connect across the globe, they are carrying UT’s spirit of community with them. I am so proud of our 2026-27 recipients and deeply thankful for the faculty, staff and families who walked alongside them to make this possible.”
Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program is the country’s flagship international academic exchange program, recognizing approximately 8,000 graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals from the United States and more than 160 other countries each year. Among other accomplishments, Fulbright recipients have gone on to win prestigious awards like the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes and have served as heads of state and government.
Meet the recipients
Marlena Alexander of Knoxville graduated in May with a degree in materials science and engineering and a minor in global studies. The Fulbright grant will support her research at the Institute for Photovoltaics at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, where she will investigate how environmentally safer solvents affect the formation and performance of perovskite solar cells. Her work aims to enhance both the functionality and manufacturability of this technology by replacing the toxic solvents currently used in production with cleaner alternatives.
“Being selected for the Fulbright in Germany is such an honor and the fulfillment of a goal I have been working toward since my freshman year, only made possible by the incredible mentors and supporters who took time to invest in me,” Alexander said. “I am so grateful to be able to take the foundation they helped me build at UT to Stuttgart, where I will research cleaner manufacturing methods for solar cells that could make renewable energy more accessible for communities like the ones I come from.”
Anabelle Ballard of Nolensville, Tennessee, graduated in May with a double major in political science and modern foreign languages and literatures. She will spend nine months in Vilnius, Lithuania, working with a premier national security think tank to conduct research on NATO-Lithuanian military strategy and develop deterrence tactics against Russian aggression.
“Receiving a Fulbright grant is an incredible honor, providing me the opportunity to gain hands-on experience studying how NATO and Lithuania are militarily adapting to the war in Ukraine,” Ballard said. “All the love to my friends, family and the Undergraduate Research and Fellowships team, without whom none of this would be possible. Go Vols!”
Karina Dale of Knoxville graduated in December 2025 with a degree in English. Her Fulbright grant will support English language education for elementary-aged students in Panagyurishte, Bulgaria, as part of their foreign language curriculum.
“I am so thrilled and grateful to be given this opportunity,” Dale said. “I believe language has the power to connect people with each other and to allow them to meet their full potential.”
Jocelyn Hess of Seymour, Tennessee, graduated in May with a degree in materials science and engineering and a minor in honors leadership studies. At the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, she will seek to develop novel vitrimer materials, an innovative class of high-performance polymers.
“I’m eternally grateful to all my mentors and those who have invested in me, and I am so excited to immerse myself in the culture and my sustainability research in Luxembourg,” Hess said.
Noel Jordan of North Charleston, South Carolina, graduated in December 2025 with a degree in linguistics and a minor in French. She will be assisting at business and vocational business schools in the French-speaking community of Delémont, Switzerland.
“To be selected for this adventure is an honor, and I can’t wait to see where it will take me,” Jordan said. “I’m very grateful for my friends and mentors in the linguistics and French departments, as well as at the English Language Institute, who helped shape my passion for language education and supported me through the application process.”
Perri Mahfouz of Knoxville graduated in May after majoring in medical anthropology, community health solutions and women’s health through the College of Arts and Sciences’ College Scholars program. She will travel to Sweden to research how the country sustains rural maternal health through its midwifery-led continuity of care strategy.
“I’m deeply grateful to the mentors and communities who shaped this work, especially the Appalachian Justice Research Center, College Scholars, the Women’s Health program, and Ryan and Meredith at the Undergraduate Research Fellowship Office,” Mahfouz said. “Through Fulbright, I will study how Sweden’s midwifery-led system sustains rural maternal care and translate those insights into policies that expand access and reduce preventable maternal harm in Appalachian counties in the United States.”
Tori McCall of New Market, Tennessee, graduated in May with a degree in history and a minor in English. She will serve as a teaching assistant in Germany, where she plans to teach English literature with a focus on culturally distinctive genres such as Gothic and Halloween-associated works.
“I am honored to be selected for the Fulbright Program,” McCall said. “Studying the Holocaust in Central Europe in 2025 reshaped how I understand human responsibility, and I look forward to returning to Germany to teach, engage in cultural exchange and pursue a future in humanitarian work.”
Haylie Roberts of Pensacola, Florida, graduated in May with a master’s degree in social work. She will use her Fulbright grant to serve as an English teaching assistant in Cambodia.
“I’m honored to be given the opportunity to support Cambodian students in gaining new skills to tell their stories,” Roberts said. “I look forward to growing and developing as an educator and, most importantly, learning from my host community.”
Katrina Stack of Livonia, Michigan, completed her Ph.D. in geography in the spring. She will examine the politics of urban place naming in 20th-century Poland, focusing on Wrocław, Kraków and Gdańsk, where renaming campaigns during the interwar period, Nazi occupation, state socialism and the post-1989 democratic transition reshaped the symbolic landscape.
“Being offered a Fulbright at this stage in my academic career is an honor as I continue my research in geographies of memory and public history on a global scale,” Stack said. “I am grateful for the recognition as well as the opportunities it may open for the students I will mentor through the connections and knowledge gained.”
Ryan Lee, assistant director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, said, “The amount of time and effort it takes to compose a Fulbright application is tremendous, but UT is an institution that empowers its students to dream up these career-defining proposals. It makes me proud to see our students rise to the occasion. A huge thank you goes out to all the faculty who train and support these wonderful scholars. We can’t wait to see what’s next for them.”
In February, UT was named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for the eighth consecutive year. Including this year’s class, the university has supported more than 186 student Fulbright recipients since 1959.
Students and recent graduates interested in learning about the Fulbright U.S. Student Grant application process are encouraged to submit the Undergraduate Research and Fellowships 2027-28 Fulbright interest form for more information.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Stacy Estep (865-974-8304, [email protected])