Stony Brook University Celebrates Six New Fulbright U.S. Student Program Recipients

Stony Brook University students continue to represent Stony Brook on the national stage, with eleven students earning national status and six students named finalists of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program award for the upcoming academic year.

Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international education exchange program. Unlike many domestic fellowships, the Fulbright emphasizes cultural diplomacy, tasking its scholars to serve as "student ambassadors" while pursuing research, graduate study or English teaching assistantships in more than 140 countries.

As one of the most widely recognized honors in higher education, the Fulbright award remains highly competitive, drawing approximately 10,500 applicants in this most recent cycle. By joining the Fulbright cohort, Stony Brook's finalists enter a distinguished network of alumni that includes 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 63 Nobel Laureates and dozens of other recipients of some of the world's most prestigious awards.

Through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, passionate and accomplished graduating college seniors, graduate students and young professionals from all backgrounds have the opportunity to advance knowledge and innovation across all academic disciplines.

Selection is based on a multi-stage review of academic and professional achievement, as well as a record of service and demonstrated leadership. For the 2026-2027 award year, these six Seawolves stood out among thousands of applicants nationwide for their commitment to cross-cultural engagement and academic excellence.

These six finalists represent the talent found across Stony Brook's undergraduate and graduate programs, serving as ambassadors for the university's values of creative thinking and community service.

Graduates of Stony Brook University have used their Fulbright experiences to pursue meaningful careers that make an impact in the world. The Graduate School's External Fellowships team is dedicated to providing guidance and resources to undergraduate and graduate students interested in applying to Fulbright through workshops and advising appointments. Their support allows applicants from Stony Brook to obtain national status in awards such as the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and excel in their future careers.

Students interested in applying for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program can learn more by visiting the External Fellowships website.

Nicolas Allen
PhD Student, History
Finalist

Nicolas Allen is a PhD candidate in history. He works on modern Latin American cultural and political history, especially Brazil.

Through the Fulbright Research award to Brazil, he looks forward to working with an interdisciplinary group of scholars at the Laboratory of Sound Culture History at the University of São Paulo. This represents a unique opportunity for him to connect U.S. and Brazilian academics concerned with "listening" to the past and using sound as a source of social scientific inquiry. He is excited to interact firsthand with rare, historical sound recordings and sound reproduction equipment, and to dialogue with the archivists and institutions responsible for their preservation.

Gino Elia
PhD Student, Philosophy
Finalist

Gino Elia (he/him/his) is a PhD candidate in the doctoral program for philosophy. He specializes in phenomenology and the philosophy of physics, with an emphasis on quantum physics and the history of physics in the early 20th century. Elia's dissertation is on the history of quantum mechanics and quantum ontology. He is graduating in May 2026.

Elia will be researching the philosophy of quantum mechanics with his affiliate, Christian List at LMU, who specializes in metaphysics and free agency. Their hope is to make breakthroughs on conceptual problems that have recently surfaced in quantum foundations.

Jeryl Johnston
PhD Student, Music
Finalist

Jeryl Johnston is a Brooklyn-based composer, performer, teacher and researcher with a portfolio encompassing projects for large and small straight-ahead and Latin jazz ensembles, West African diasporic percussion ensembles, chorus, electronics, orchestra, wind ensemble and chamber groups. Currently, she teaches jazz arranging and other courses at CUNY Brooklyn College and pursues a PhD in critical music studies as a Graduate Council Fellow at Stony Brook, with research interests in timeline music, especially Yoruba and Lucumi Bata, and in tertiary music composition pedagogy.

Through the Fulbright Research award, she hopes that her research in Lagos and Ibadan will help create connections between Nigerian Yoruba, Cuban Lucumi, and American musicians, both academic and practicing, between composers, researchers, teachers and performers.

Emmi Lu
Senior, Linguistics - TESOL, AMS
Finalist

Throughout her years at Stony Brook, the idea of exploration has underscored Emmi Lu's experience. While she entered college as an aspiring math teacher, her decision to explore linguistics eventually led her to change her major and enroll in the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program. Lu loves exploring nature through outdoor walks, food through new restaurants, and things to do through different hobbies like ice skating, puzzles and photography. Now, she is very excited to move on to explore teaching English in a new country.

Anthony Murphy-Neilson
Third-Year Graduate Student, Marine Science
Finalist

Anthony Murphy-Nelson is a graduate student studying marine science in Bradley Peterson's community ecology lab. His work focuses on the susceptibility of eelgrass to seagrass wasting disease and how that interaction changes with heat stress. For his Fulbright Research award to Spain, he has proposed a seagrass research and restoration study in the Canary Islands.

Shivani Shah
Senior, Biology and Psychology
Semi Finalist

Shivani Shah is an Honors College student at Stony Brook University with an exceptional commitment to research, leadership and service. She is currently completing an honors thesis research in James Konopka's lab, supported by a URECA grant. Shah has presented research at university and SUNY conferences and is a published author in Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. She has participated in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Summer Scholars Program, studying methods of host DNA depletion. She is an EMT with Port Jefferson EMS and the director of Camp Kesem, supporting children affected by a parent's cancer.

Heshwin Singh
Alumni, Biology and Psychology
Finalist

Heshwin Singh's work bridges science, education and community impact. She has been extensively involved in research at Stony Brook, driven by a deep curiosity to explore the human mind through neuroscience, psychology and philosophy. Her work reflects a commitment to understanding people through multiple lenses, integrating scientific inquiry with broader humanistic perspectives. Through the Fulbright program, Heshwin aims to expand her global perspective and deepen her understanding of the human mind through diverse intellectual and cultural experiences.

Carrie Wang
Junior, Biology
Alternate

Carrie Wang is a biology major and a member of the University Scholars program. Alongside her academics, she serves as a resident assistant and has been involved in research and mentorship programs focused on education and healthcare access.

Through the Fulbright ETA experience in Taiwan, Wang hopes to help students build confidence in English through engaging and supportive classroom interactions while also reconnecting with her cultural roots. As someone with family ties to Taiwan, she was drawn to the opportunity to experience daily life and education in Taiwan beyond the perspective of a visitor. She hopes to encourage students to see language as a way to express themselves and connect with others rather than something to fear, while also learning from the local community and culture herself.

Not Pictured:

Brian Chen
Senior, Political Science
Semi Finalist

Christina Marie Mariani
Alumni, Journalism and Asian/Asian American Studies
Semi Finalist

Oliver Nadin-Roda
Senior, Political Science
Semi Finalist