Sara Fine

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Eight freshman students have been awarded prestigious Sturgis Fellowships in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, worth $50,000 for four years.

Haley Grogan

The incoming freshman class for fall 2003 includes Sarah Fine of Greensboro, NC; Haley Grogan of Bartlesville, OK; Matthew Jewell of Pittsburg, TX; Nancy Majors of Searcy, AR; Nhan (Marc) Hieu Phan of Fort Smith, AR; Allison Satterfield of Harrison, AR; Jared Grant Serio of Ruston, LA; and Steven Wright of Little Rock, AR.

Nancy Majors

"The 2003 class is, as always, remarkable," Dean of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Donald R. Bobbitt said. "Every student who applied was incredibly accomplished, many of them leaders in their high schools and active in their communities. The applicants could have attended any university in the country, but they chose us. We are delighted,".

Nhan Hieu Phan

Bobbitt said each student selected to the 2003 Sturgis class has an average ACT score of 32.5 and an average GPA of 4.08.

Allison Satterfield

The Sturgis Fellowship is made possible by an endowment from the Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable Trust to the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Each Sturgis Fellow receives $50,000, or $12,500 per year, representing one of the most prestigious scholarships offered by any university in the country. The Fellowship pays for tuition, room, and board, and provides discretionary funds for computers, musical instruments, professional journals, trips to conferences and travel abroad during the junior year.

Jared Grant Serio

The original endowment funded five, four-year fellowships of $40,000. Because of the enormous success of the fellowship in attracting the top students from the region and around the country, the Sturgis Foundation awarded the University of Arkansas an additional $3 million in 1992. Another gift in 1997 of $2.5 million brought the total endowment to $7.5 million. The Sturgis Trust has awarded more grants to the University of Arkansas than to any other organization it funds.

Steven Wright

"No changes have been more profound than those arising from the Sturgis Fellowships," Honors Director Sidney Burris said. "Sturgis Fellows, the best at the University, have excelled beyond all expectations in the classroom, have competed successfully for national scholarships, and have traveled to all corners of the globe, proudly bearing the Sturgis name."

Previous Sturgis Fellows have won three British Marshall Scholarships, 15 Barry Goldwater Scholarships, four Harry S. Truman Scholarships, four Morris Udall Scholarships, and a Rhodes Scholarship.