The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship program, named after distinguished U.S. diplomat Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, offers a unique opportunity to promote positive change in the world.

Xonzy Gaddis, a December 2022 graduate currently living in Washington D.C., has received the Elsie M. Stouffer Fellowship from Grinnell College. The $27,000 fellowship award is the result of a generous gift made by Elsie M. Stouffer, a member of the class of 1924.

Celina Karp Biniaz, class of 1952, endowed the award to support a graduating senior with two key intentions: 1) To aid students like her who had to overcome obstacles to obtain their education; and 2) To recognize and support such students who wish to pursue careers teaching young people OR working for organizations or governmental entities whose core mission focuses on the education and welfare of young people.

Five recipients were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to conduct research and teach English abroad for the 2023–24 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Spindler-Krage, a political science major and policy studies concentrator from Rochester, Minnesota, seeks to combat environmental justice in Minnesota, particularly the mining proposals in Northern Minnesota that threaten Indigenous communities.   

Schaefer has been awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for 2023–2024 to explore music’s potential to inspire climate action by deepening people’s connection to nature and their communities.

Grinnell College is proud to be named one of the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2022–23 Fulbright U.S. Students.

Grinnell College’s Yuki Takahashi ’22 has been awarded a Quad Fellowship by Schmidt Futures.

Beisner, a class of 2022 graduate from Grinnell, Iowa, and originally from Denton, Texas, majored in psychology and Spanish with the intent of pursuing a graduate degree in social work and public policy.

Kamra, a class of 2022 graduate from New Delhi, Delhi, India, is a history major with a policy studies concentration. His essay, titled “Adivasis and the Two Faces of Violence: Emergence of the Postcolonial India State,” investigates the epistemic and physical harms committed against the Adivasis (tribes) of Chhotanagpur by the early postcolonial state.