NUI Galway is to receive three Mitchell Scholarship Awards for 2015/16. George J. Mitchell Scholarships are highly competitive prizes awarded by the US-Ireland Alliance, and are aimed at supporting distinguished US graduate students to attend Irish universities for one year.

With three awards, this places NUI Galway as a leading university of choice for these highly distinguished young people, having attracted 30% of the scholarships awarded in the Republic of Ireland. Overall, the twelve scholarships awarded across the island of Ireland, were made on the basis of a nationwide US competition which attracted 270 applicants.

The three NUI Galway Mitchell Scholars each have distinguished academic and civic careers to date.
GAVIN LANDGRAF is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College, where he majored in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. As Student Body President, he worked with college administration to develop a $100 million initiative to finance scholarships for low-income students, and to lead high-profile initiatives to address sexual assault on college campuses. He has completed internships at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government, the Washington constitutional law firm Cooper & Kirk, and at Morgan Stanley’s Public Finance Group in San Francisco. At NUI Galway, Gavin will study Natural Resource Economics and Policy.

JULIANNE NORTON is currently completing her Bachelor degree at the University of Connecticut, where she studies International Relations, Cross-Cultural Relations, and Studio Art. A celebrated artist, she co-founded an interdisciplinary university arts organisation that provides outreach to schools with underfunded arts programmes. She has completed a series of oil paintings on cultural trauma and has received grant funding to develop a graphic novel from these works. She also serves as a facilitator and counsellor for current and prospective students facing disadvantage. At NUI Galway, Julianne will study Writing.

TARA TORABI is currently completing her Bachelor degree at Brown University, where she studies Neuroscience. Her primary interest is in Alzheimer’s disease. She is Co-President of Brown’s Alzheimer’s Activists, and participates in political activism with the Rhode Island chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. She also works as a hospice volunteer and a researcher in the Pathology Department at Rhode Island Hospital. Tara founded the Brown University Brain Bee, a major outreach programme aimed at making neuroscience accessible to high school students and, as an Americorps Access Scholar, she worked with under-represented youth applying to college. At NUI Galway, Tara will study Neuropharmacology.

NUI Galway's Dean of International Affairs, Professor Brian Hughes, welcomed the announcement: "We are delighted that such precocious young people saw fit to choose NUI Galway as the venue for their graduate studies, and we are pleased to host these distinguished scholars. We are very conscious of the prestige attached to the George J. Mitchell Scholarship programme and are proud to feature so strongly. This reflects our strong portfolio of academic strengths, as well as the supportive and welcoming environment we provide to students from all over the world."

NUI Galway currently hosts over 3,000 international students from 113 countries around the world, comprising 18% of our student population.

ENDS