NYU Abu Dhabi graduating seniors Thomas Klein of Hillsborough, N.J., and Hannah Taylor of Plymouth, Mass., have received Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Klein, 22, is graduating with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy from NYU Abu Dhabi this month. At NYUAD he was the Editor-in-Chief of The Gazelle, the university’s student newspaper. Upon graduation, he will complete a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Fellowship in Malaysia and then enroll in law school. He is a graduate of Hillsborough High School.
"I am so grateful for NYUAD giving me the opportunity to learn a great deal about the Middle East and preparing me to work on an international scale,” said Klein. “I hope my time in Malaysia will be an equally valuable learning opportunity and window into Southeast Asia. I am confident my Fulbright will complement my experiences at NYUAD in preparing me for a career in international policy."
Taylor, 21, graduates with a degree in Social Research and Public Policy and a minor in Psychology. After graduation, she will study the social, cultural and political factors that allowed for the success of Portugal's 2001 drug policy shift, which decriminalized low-level possession of all drugs.
“My research will focus on understanding the factors that enabled Portuguese policy change, and why this revised policy has been so successful in its implementation, in order to draw lessons that could inform thinking about U.S. drug policy, particularly regarding the opioid epidemic,” says Taylor.
She will live in Lisbon and be mentored by faculty at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa and Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. She attended Sturgis Charter Public School in Hyannis, MA.Klein and Taylor are two of more than 1,900 U.S. citizens who will conduct research, teach English, and provide expertise abroad for the 2018-2019 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields. To date, 10 Fulbright scholarships have been offered to NYUAD students.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
