Achievements by Students and Alumni

2022

Shuning Lin (class of 2022, a double major in AAS-TE & Psychology) was accepted to the MA program in Teaching Asian Languages at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA))!

Siyu Wei (Class of 2021, AAS major and double minor in JNH/KOR) was accepted to the MA program in Education at University College London (UCL)!

The China Studies Program is pleased to announce the 2021-2022 recipients of the annual Hu/Seifman Memorial Awards and Scholarships:

Freshman Scholarship: Selina Zhu
Chinese Studies Scholarship: Noah Brandi, Jirui Li
Leadership Award: Wei Ting Tian

Congratulations to all the winners!

The Mattoo Center for India Studies is pleased to announce five scholarship awards for Fall 2022 semester. Congratulations to the following students:

Rachel Jones: Dr. N.S. Ramamurthy Memorial Scholarship
Bhavya Gaur: Prem & Latha Chandran Scholarship
Rinchen Sahni: Vineet Johnsingh Scholarship
Liam O'Shaughnessy: Visions Worldwide Scholarship
Arnav Sawant: Visions Worldwide Scholarship

Emily Carll (AAS-major, POL-Major, RUS-Minor, INT-minor, Class of 2020) has been selected for the nationally competitive Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Program Fellowship. She will become SBU's first-ever Pickering Fellow, and receive funds to pursue a Master's degree in the field of international affairs. Emily is also guaranteed placement as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State upon completion of her degree. Congratulations to Emily!

Alexandra Rivera(JNH minor, English major, Class of 2019) has jetted off across the pond to undertake an MPhil in Medieval Literature from the University of Cambridge. She aspires to pursue a PhD in Medieval Literature and continue to discover, research, and teach new ways of connecting stories to cultural and linguistic practices across region and time.

Jade Nine ( Double major in AAS and MAT, CNS minor, Class of 2021) was accepted to the M.A. Program in Asian Studies at University of Hawaii at Manoa with scholarship towards tuition! Congratulations, Jade!

2021 Center for India Studies UG Scholarship Recipients:
- Praveen Parthasarathy (Dr. N.S. Ramamurthy Memorial Scholarship)
- Sayeed Khan (Vineet Johnsingh Memorial Scholarshi)
- Braeden Bierwiler (Prem and Latha Chandran Scholarship in Hinduism and Vedic Studies
2021 Korean Studies UG Scholarship Recipients:
Congratulations to our 2021 Graduate Scholarship awardees, Ms. Ji Yea Kim (Ph. D. student in Linguistics) and Ms. Amy Kahng (Ph.D. student in Arts)!

Congratulations to our 6th Korean Speech Contest winners, Sally Liu, Damon Damaskos, Brandon Wan, Wenwen Zheng, Kaylee Hotaling
Emily Carll (AAS-major, POL-Major, RUS-Minor, INT-minor, Class of 2020) received the US Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) for Hindi!

Joshua Galardi (AAS-major, CNS-minor, HIS-major, Class of 2020), Daniel DiLauro (JNH-minor, LIN-major, '12) and Remy Moon (AAS-major, KOR-minor, '17, CAAS-MA '18) spoke as Guest Speakers at the 2020 Virtual AAS Open House (11/18/2020).

Yeon Ko (AAS-TE-major, KOR-minor) and Cynthia Zhu (AAS-TE-major, KOR-minor) received 2020 Korean Teacher Education Program scholarship ($2,000); Hanny Baek (KOR-minor, PSY-major, SOC-major, MHS-minor), and Marina Escarra (KOR-minor, PSY-major), Helen Park (MTD-major) and Inna Trygubchuk (KOR-minor, BIO-major) received scholarship for Academic Excellence and Leadership in Korean Studies ($1,000) from the Center for Korean Studies.

Rose Goldberg (AAS-TE-Major, JNH-minor, ARS-major, ARH-minor, senior) received the 2020 Provost’s Award for Academic Excellence.

Sailesh Srinivas (RLS-minor, CHE-major, junior) won the Best Essay Award ($3,000) in the 15th Annual Japan Center-Canon Essay Competition. Read the SBU News (6/15/2020).

2019-2020 Shiming Hu/Eli Seifman Memorial scholarship Recipients:
- Suzanna Liang (Freshman scholarship)
- Joshua Galardi (China Studies Scholarship)
- Qiulei Zhang & Anita Ho (Leadership Award)
Rachel Kim (AAS-TE-major, KOR-minor, EGL-minor) and Jin Choi (AAS-TE-major, KOR-minor) received 2019 Korean Teacher Education Program scholarship ($2,000 each), and Kristi Johnson (KOR-minor, HAN-major, '20), Sydnie Lee and Xiaowei Liao received scholarship for Academic Excellence and Leadership in Korean Studies ($1,000 each) from the Center for Korean Studies.

Suzanne Liang recieved 2019-2020 Shiming Hu/Eli Seifman scholarship freshman Scholarship; Joshua Galardi (AAS-major, CNS-minor, HIS-major, '20) received 2019-2020 Shiming Hu/Eli Seifman scholarship China Studies Scholarship; Qiulei Zhang and Anita Ho received 2019-2020 Shiming Hu/Eli Seifman scholarship Leadership Scholarship.
Sarah Mallik (RLS-minor, Biochemistry-major, Class of 2009) was invited to speak as 2018 AAS Commencement Speaker. Dr. Mallik is Assistant Professor of Primary Care & Social Internal Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine as of 2020.

Anne McNulty (AAS minor/ LIN major, '18) was selected to be a 2018 ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) for the JET (Japan Exchange Teaching) program; Anne McNulty also received 2018 Provost’s Award for Academic Excellence.

Rachel Kim (AAS-TE-major, KOR-minor, EGL-minor) and Mutong Niu (AAS-TE-major, KOR-minor) received 2018 Korean Teacher Education Program scholarship ($2,000), and Robert Moore, Tenzin Kunsel, and Hye Soo Oh received scholarship for Academic Excellence and Leadership in Korean Studies ($1,000) from the Center for Korean Studies.

Anne McNulty (Class of 2018, AAS minor/LIN major) and Rose Goldberg (Major in AAAS-teacher education and Studio Art, and Minor in Japanese Studies) co-published "Japanese Stories for Language Learners (2018)" from Tuttle with their professor. See SBU News (5/7/2018).
Kristina Chambers (JNH-minor, LIN-major, '19) received two prestageous national-level and international-level scholarships: $4,000 Bridging Scholarship from American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) and $800 monthly scholarship from Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) to study at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 2017-2018 academic year.

Nicholas Staffa (AAS-major, CNS-minor, LIN-minor, 09) was featured in America the Bilingual (Sept. 2017) "12-America the Billingual Podcast-Eastern Star: The Nick Staffa story." Nicholas Staffa taught Chinese at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong. Nick was the only non-Chinese (of a total of about 20) instructor! Prior to taking the post in Hong Kong, he was Head of the Chinese Department at an international school in Seoul, Korea, after receiving Chinese Language Teacher Certification in the U.S.

Brad Reid (CNS-minor, HIS-major, Class of 2005) was invited as the 2017 AAS Commecement Speaker. He is Assistant Deputy Director, Infrastructure Division, NYC Council-Legislative Division and also serves as the Democratic District Leader for the 41st Assembly District as of 2020.

Chris Saunders (JNH-minor, BIO-major, '15) was selected to be an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) for the 2017 JET (Japan Exchange Teaching) program.

Ashley Brown (AAS-TE-major, CNS-minor, '13) served as the MC for the Chinese New Year Festival at the Want Center.

Sora Kim (AAS-TE-major, LING-major) and Heedong Lee (AAS-TE-major, CNS-minor, BUS-majo)received 2017 Korean Teacher Education Program scholarship ($2,000 each), and Yusin Yang, Anne McNulty, Jeong Eun Yang, and Aya Kaneko received scholarship for Academic Excellence and Leadership in Korean Studies ($1,000 each) from the Center for Korean Studies.

Zachary Strum and Anthony Otters (Class of 2017) were awarded 2017 China Studies Scholarship, $1,000 and $500, respectively for their excellence in the study of Chinese language and culture.

Mohammed Ali (MTD-major with RLS & PHI concentration) received the Best Essay Award in the 12th Annual Japan Center-Canon Essay Competition (2016-2017) ($3,000). See the SBU NEWS (4/27/2017).
Ria Chang-Mockrish (AAS-major, '12) obtains the position as the Head of the World Language Department at the Cebu International School in Cebu, Philippines. CIS is an accredited international school and an authorized IB world school. Ria has been teaching Middle and High School Mandarin, and IB Mandarin ab initio and started the first cohorts of Mandarin B at the school for the diploma program.

Luis Mesa (AAS-major, JNH-minor, KOR-minor, '15), Eric Stiller (AAS-major, JNH-minor, '16) , and Michael Yeung (JPN-Minor, CSE-Major, '16) were selected for 2016 ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) for the JET (Japan Exchange Teaching) program.

Anthony Vicario,Ivy Lin Wu and Liza Yanovskaya received scholarship for Academic Excellence and Leadership in Korean Studies ($1,000); Sang-ha Yoon (ECO-major) and Ji Yea Kim (LIN-major) were awarded with the graduate scholarship in Korean Studies ($3,000 each, Spring 2017).

Tiara Hess (JNH-Minor, HIS-major, ANT-major, WRT-minor, '16; CAAS-MA ) received the Merit Award ($500) in the 11th Annual Japan Center-Canon Essay Competition. See the article in SBU News (4/20/2016).

Grace Chang (AAS-major) got the runner up for the Think Big Competition (Her project: "The Global Problem: Hepatitis B"). Grace was honored at the CAS Awards and Recognition ceremony, The Difference You Make, on April 5th.

Sharon Benedett (JNH-major, TESOL-major, '17) was featured in SBU News (10/17/2016), "Linguistics Student Speaks the Language of Unity."

Amy Dang (AAS-major, CNS-minor, '15) was selected as the URECA Researcher of the Month in January 2016.

Morgan Macklin (AAS-major, AMS-major, ’16 ) was featured in SBU News (2/9/2015), "Morgan Macklin '16 is Ready to Take on the World."
Robin Caselli (JNH-minor, MDT-major, '15) received Undergraduate Recognition Award for Academic Excellence. She studied both Japanese and Korean at Stony Brook and created Online Grammar Dictionary for Japanese and Korean as a part of Honors Project; She was accepted to the MA Program in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Hawaii.
Kazuyo Murata (RLS-major, PHI-major, 2004) earned MPhil in Medieval Studies from Yale University. Dr. Murata is a tenured Lecturer in Islamic Studies at King's College London.

Kristian Petersen (RLS-major, PHI-minor, Class of 2003) is an Assistant Professor in the department of Philosophy & Religious Studies at Old Dominion University.