Middlebury Institute Named a “Top-Performing Institution” for Boren Fellowships

Boren Awards provide graduate students up to $30,000 to study less-commonly taught languages in countries of strategic U.S. importance. Many recipients also conduct research, complete an internship, or engage in language tutoring.  

“I am consistently impressed by our students. It is great to see so many of them rewarded with this honor,” said Dr. David Wick, faculty director of fellowships. “It is particularly impressive that our small school has joined this distinguished list of top performing institutions.”

Middlebury Institute students have a long track record of success in the annual competition. Last year, the Institute had two finalists—an environmental policy student who studied Russian in Kazakhstan and a student doing a joint MPA/MA in International Education Management who studied Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan, as well as one alternate who was promoted to finalist for Vietnamese.

For 2023–2024, five Middlebury Institute students received Boren Fellowships, enough to tie ‌Johns Hopkins University for fifth in the national rankings. American University ranked first, followed by George Washington University, and then Georgetown and Harvard (tied for third).

Four of the recipients are in the Environmental Policy program and one is studying International Policy and Development (IPD).

• Alexander Christodoulou will research drivers and solutions to tropical deforestation in the Atiwa Range in Ghana.
• Shivani Tambi will research techniques for improving agricultural and livelihood resilience in the face of accelerating climate change in northern India.
• Gabe Albright will research a cutting-edge solar energy technology that can contribute to Taiwan’s energy independence goals.
• Rachel Herring proposed research on renewable energy expansion in rural Japan as a tool to strengthen rural economies, environmental protection, and cultural resilience—a project for which she received a Boren Fellowship but has opted to pursue through a prestigious Fulbright Research Grant. 
• Emma Miller MAIPD ’23 will return to her Peace Corps service country of Mozambique, where she will directly enroll at the Eduardo Mondlane University to study Portuguese and complete an internship with World Education.

Boren finalists who complete their program by the time of enrollment at MIIS are eligible for a guaranteed 35 percent tuition scholarship and an application fee waiver.