The Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarships Advisement has announced that two students from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University have been awarded Killam Fellowships for study at Canadian universities in the 2024–25 academic year.
Third-year astrophysics major Sarah Saavedra will attend the University of Toronto this fall and Taylor Oddonetto, a second-year finance major, will study at York University in Toronto in the spring of 2025.
Administered by Fulbright Canada, the Killam Fellowships Program provides the opportunity for exceptional undergraduate students from universities in Canada and the United States to spend either one semester or a full academic year as exchange students in each country.
The program provides $6,000 in funding per semester, and fellows also can apply for an additional $800 to pay for an educational field trip during their fellowship. Fellows also participate in a range of leadership development and ambassadorial activities, including an orientation in Canada’s capital Ottawa and a spring conference in Washington, D.C.
Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, a teaching professor and Honors Faculty Fellow in Barrett, worked closely with students through the application process. She said that the Killam Fellowship provides students the benefits of international experience at some of Canada’s finest universities.
“The universities and the locations of their campuses range from the Pacific Coast to Prince Edward Island, and metropolitan settings including Toronto and Montreal, and the varied array that each one offers has allowed our students to pursue and focus on interests they may have not yet had the chance to study in depth here at ASU — including exposure to oceanography and marine biology; First Nations perspectives and history; and comparative approaches to economic, environmental, social and political issues,” she said.
Killam Fellowship Information Session
Tuesday, Oct. 15
4:30–5:30 p.m.
Barrett complex, Tempe campus
ASU’s role as a Killam exchange partner also has allowed students’ financial aid to transfer to cover their study abroad and make the Killam Fellowship a significant opportunity for ASU’s high-achieving students to represent the U.S. as part of the Fulbright mission to increase goodwill and understanding between the U.S. and other countries, Bhattacharjya added.
“I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and everyone who helped me get here. I am incredibly excited to experience Canada, meet new people and learn everything I can,” said Saavedra, who will continue her astrophysics studies in Canada.
Saavedra said a semester in Canada will expose her to various research topics and help her decide what type of graduate studies to pursue and where.
At York University, Oddonetto will study in the Liberal Arts & Professional Studies College and focus on international finance and Canadian politics.
“I feel honored to be part of a program such as the Killam Fellowship. The opportunity to represent my home institution, ASU, and my country is an enormous privilege,” said Oddonetto, who plans to work in wealth management in the future.
“Killam provides me the unique opportunity to experience a different culture and take on a new endeavor that will provide me with the skills I believe will be essential in any workplace,” she said.
Students who are interested in applying for nomination to the Killam Fellowships Program can attend an information session at 4:30–5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15, in Cottonwood Room 101 in the Barrett Honors College Tempe complex. Register for the information session here.
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