WSU Global Campus Senior Receives National Boren Award to Study Mandarin Language in Taiwan

MEDIA: Sarah Ann Hones, Director of Distinguished Scholarship Programs, WSU Office of Undergraduate Education, 509-335-8239, shones@wsu.edu

Mary Sanchez Lanier, Assistant Vice Provost, 509-335-7767, sanchez@wsu.edu

Beverly Makhani, Director of Communications, WSU Office of Undergraduate Education, 509-335-6679, makhani@wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash. — Thomas G. Taylor, a senior in the Washington State University Global Campus, has received a prestigious national Boren Scholarship from the National Security Education Program (NSEP) to study the Mandarin language in Taiwan during the 2014-15 academic year.

Taylor is WSU’s thirteenth Boren Scholar since 2001; the designation is for awardees who are undergraduates. WSU has also had two graduate student Boren Fellows since 2000.

Taylor is pursing a social sciences degree from the Global Campus, with concentrations in political science, sociology, and history. In 2013, he received a Critical Language Award to study Mandarin in Xi’an, China.

For 2014-15, he is one of 165 Boren recipients out of 868 applications from students in 38 disciplines. NSEP reports that among this year’s winners, China is the most requested destination and Mandarin the second most popular language. The new Boren Scholars represent 25 disciplines at 90 institutions in 36 states.

Sarah Ann Hones is WSU’s director of the Distinguished Scholarships Program, part of the WSU Office of Undergraduate Education. She mentors dozens of students each year who wish to compete for any of several prestigious scholarships. She credits Professor Chris Lupke for his work as the WSU liaison to the Boren Scholarship program.

Boren Scholarships provide up to $20,000 to American undergraduate college students to study less-commonly-taught languages in about 90 world regions critical to U.S. interests but underrepresented in study abroad. These include Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Among the nearly 65 preferred languages are Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Swahili.

The NSEP’s Boren program was created in 1994 and is named for University of Oklahoma president and former U.S. Senator David L. Boren. He is the principal author of the legislation that created the awards.

For more information on distinguished scholars and the WSU program, visit:
http://distinguishedscholarships.wsu.edu