Distinguished Scholarships > Advisory Board & Scholarship Committees

Advisory Board & Scholarship Committees

Distinguished Scholarships Advisory Board

Collage showing advisory board members as of fall 2024.

The Distinguished Scholarships Program (DSP) supports highly capable WSU students and alumni from all backgrounds and majors to develop the skills, knowledge, education, and leadership needed to assume their role as future contributors in the state of Washington and beyond. DSP develops students as scholars and adds value to the WSU brand.

The Advisory Board will support the mission of the Distinguished Scholarships Program.

The Advisory Board provides a sounding board for programmatic and institutional goals as they relate to the DSP.
The Advisory Board is made up of individuals with diverse roles in the university community. Each member brings a unique perspective to the role of the DSP at WSU.
Many on the board have supported the DSP on committees and at events. This means the Advisory Board can provide both “boots on the ground” feedback as well as a vision.

Meetings: The Distinguished Scholarships Advisory Board will meet once per semester.

Advisory Board Members

Cornell Clayton

Faculty Representative, The Harry S. Truman Scholarship
Director, Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service
Distinguished Professor of Government, School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs

Lisa Gloss

Associate Professor, School of Molecular Biosciences

M. Grant Norton

Dean, Honors College; Professor, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Paul Pitre

Chancellor, Washington State University Everett

Mary Sánchez Lanier

Assistant Vice Provost, Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement
Professor, School of Molecular Biosciences

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Distinguished Scholarships Selection Committee

Candidates applying for distinguished scholarships that require university nomination or endorsement, such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, and others, must first submit their application to the Distinguished Scholarships Selection Committee. The committee will determine which applications will be selected by WSU for endorsement. When appropriate, students will receive feedback on their applications from the committee.

Selection Committee Members

M. Grant Norton

Chair, Distinguished Scholarships Selection Committee
Dean, Honors College
Professor, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Robin Bond

Associate Dean, Honors College

William Kabasenche

Professor Career Track, School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs

Tahira Probst

Professor, Psychology (WSU Vancouver)

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Fulbright Campus Review Committee

Ryan Booth

Ryan Booth is an Assistant Professor of History at WSU Pullman. Ryan spent most of the 2019-2020 academic year in India thanks to the support of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Kimberly Carper

Kimberly Carper is Adjunct Faculty in the School of Hospitality Business Management and a human relations consultant at KC HR Consulting, LLC. She was was a Fulbright teaching assistant in 1991-1992 in the Herault region of France. She was placed in two schools along the Mediterranean, teaching middle schoolers English and American culture. After having spent much of her career in strategic HR positions with Hyatt Hotels, Washington Mutual (now Chase Bank), and Expedia, she now serves as a human resources consultant to small firms that cannot afford a full-time HR employee. She hires the police and fire departments for the City of Pullman and works with individuals on résumés, cover letters, interviewing skills, and other job search techniques. In addition, Ms. Carper has taught in the Carson College of Business and is a frequent guest speaker for the WSU Alumni Association.

Larry Clark

Larry Clark is the Editor of the award-winning Washington State Magazine, the alumni, research and general interest magazine for Washington State University. He has additional experience working in public relations, political communication and policy analysis.

Jane Cote

Jane Cote is Professor Emerita and Academic Director of Accounting in the Carson College of Business at WSU Vancouver.

Bill Davis, member of the 2021 Fulbright Campus Review Committee.

William B. Davis

Dr. William “Bill” Davis is the Vice Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Achievement and a Professor in the school of molecular biosciences. This is Dr. Davis’ fourth year serving on the WSU Fulbright Campus Review Committee. He has participated in multiple sessions designed to help WSU applicants become more competitive as they consider nationally competitive awards.

Deirdre Fahy

Deirdre Fahy is a Senior Scientific Assistant in the School of Molecular Biosciences.

Laura Hudson, member of the Fulbright Campus Review Committee starting in fall 2024.

Lauren Hudson

Lauren Hudson graduated from WSU in 2022, with degrees in biology and French and was selected as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) to Vietnam for the 2022-23 academic year. In 2023, she was the first individual in the Vietnam ETA cohort to be invited to return for a second year. In 2023-24, Ms. Hudson was placed in Hanoi, still teaching, but also working with the American Center and Fulbright programs.

Elizabeth “Becky” James, member of the Fulbright Campus Review Committee starting in fall 2023.

Elizabeth James

Elizabeth James is the Assistant Director of Research Development for the Office of the Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Holly LaHann

Holly LaHann is an Advisor for the Distinguished Scholarships Program.

Nick Lovrich, member of the 2021 Fulbright Campus Review Committee.

Nicholas Lovrich

Dr. Nicholas Lovrich is the Regents Professor Emeritus and Claudius O. and Mary W. Johnson Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs at Washington State University. Dr. Lovrich served as the director of the Division of Governmental Studies and Services for more than three decades. In recent years, he has assisted with multiple interview preparation sessions for WSU distinguished scholar applicants.

Keri McCarthy

Dr. Keri McCarthy is Professor of Oboe and Music History at Washington State University, and has cultivated an international reputation as a chamber musician, soloist, teacher, and clinician. In 2011, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Bangkok, Thailand, researching connections between Thai traditional and contemporary music, commissioning Thai and Malaysian composers, and performing new works with professional oboists in the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore. A tireless advocate for Fulbright programs, Dr. McCarthy serves on the WSU Fulbright Academy, the Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho Fulbright Association Chapter and has participated as a Fulbright Campus Review Committee member for several years.

Kevin Murphy

Dr. Kevin Murphy is a Professor in the College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resources Sciences. Dr. Murphy leads the specialty crop breeding and agronomy program at WSU. He was named a Fulbright Specialists Fellow in 2013 and 2017 and was recognized with Fulbright Global Scholar awards to Ecuador in 2019 and to Malawi in 2021. His team focuses on breeding and/or cropping systems in quinoa, barley, and millets. This is Dr. Murphy’s second year serving on the Fulbright Campus Review Committee and we are grateful he is lending his extensive experience with Fulbright programs to our applicants.

Io Palmer

Io Palmer holds a Master of Fine Arts and is an Associate Professor of Fine Arts at WSU. In 2018 she was awarded the inaugural Berry Family Distinguished Professorship in Liberal Arts and, in 2019 she spent six months in India as a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award recipient. In addition to conducting research for her Fulbright, she served as a resident artist at the Sanskriti Foundation in New Delhi.

Travis Ridout

Travis Ridout is the Director of the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at Washington State University. He has been named Claudius O. and Mary W. Johnson Distinguished Professor and is considered one of the country’s leading authorities on the topic of political advertising. Dr. Ridout serves as co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which studies and tracks political advertising. In 2023, he served as a Fulbright Scholar at Monash University in Melbourne.

Rachel Sanchez

Rachel Sanchez serves as a Teaching Associate Professor and Assistant Director of Composition with the WSU Department of English. Ms. Sanchez has taught both composition and technical and professional writing courses. She has worked as a specialist at the Writing Program and has served as a member of the Fulbright Review Committee for six years.

Jill Shafer

Jill Shafer has been in the field of higher education since 2000. Before coming to WSU Pullman in January 2018, she taught and advised at the University of North Dakota in Multicultural Education and English Language Learner coursework. She has worked in Uzbekistan and Rwanda and carried out trainings in Malaysia, Philippines, Ethiopia, and the DRC. Dr. Shafer now serves as an academic advisor for the WSU program in Data Analytics and holds a Ph.D. in Adult and Extension Education from Texas A&M University, College Station, an M.S. in Health Care Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Texas, San Antonio.

Richard Shafer

Richard Shafer is an Emeritus Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota and taught for WSU’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication before joining the staff of the Graduate Writing Center. He has served as a visiting journalism and mass media professor and consultant worldwide since his first Fulbright fellowship in 1989. He has lectured and conducted workshops and seminars for the U.S. State Department and numerous international foundations in more than 40 countries and worked at more than 100 international universities as a journalism and research writing instructor. Most recently he was a visiting professor in Rwanda and Ethiopia, and he serves as a College Board Advanced Placement essay exam reviewer for US History. Dr. Shafer received a second Fulbright Fellowship in 2021 to establish a writing center in western Uganda.

Raymond Sun

Dr. Raymond Sun, Associate Professor of History, has a long history of supporting campus-wide Fulbright efforts and the Distinguished Scholarships Program. A Fulbright recipient himself, Dr. Sun serves as the current President of the Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho Fulbright Association Chapter. This is his fifth year serving on the Fulbright Campus Review Committee.

Karen Weathermon

Since 2006, until her retirement in summer 2025, Karen Weathermon led the WSU First-Year Focus living-learning community program and developed and directed the university’s Common Reading Program. Both focus on learning experiences for first-year students within and beyond classrooms. Dr. Weathermon pursued her graduate education at WSU, earning her M.A. and Ph.D. in English with emphases in composition, rhetoric, and American literature. In recent years, she has assisted with interview preparation sessions for WSU distinguished scholar applicants, lending her insight, thoughtfulness, and thoroughness to the process.

Cara Welch

Cara Welch currently works with the WSU Office of International Program as a Global Learning Advisor. She is a valued and enthusiastic partner with the Distinguished Scholarships Program and deeply committed to her students’ success. While this will be Ms. Welch’s first Fulbright Review with WSU, she has worked with previous Fulbright applicants and has served as a national Gilman scholarship reader in the past.

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Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship provides up to $7,500 per year for educational expenses to sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. The Goldwater Foundation seeks students who display intellectual curiosity and intensity and possess potential for significant future contributions in their chosen field. Accordingly, the Barry Goldwater scholarship committee will nominate up to four students who possess and clearly demonstrate the characteristics of a Goldwater Scholar. The committee provides feedback to the nominated students, as appropriate.

Distinguished Scholarships Advisory Board

Advisory Board Members

Distinguished Scholarships Selection Committee

Selection Committee Members

Fulbright Campus Review Committee

Karen Weathermon

Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee

Committee Membership