Two Fairfield University Students Awarded Fulbright Scholarships

Fairfield, CT - Two Fairfield University alumnae have been awarded prestigious Fulbright scholarships — a year-long program that supports post-graduate study, research, work, or teaching in another country. Recent graduates Alana Hubbs ’20 of Kingston, N.Y. and Raquel Reilly ’20 of Prospect, Conn. are the newest Fairfield alumnae to receive Fulbright scholarships, joining more than 65 other Fairfield alumni to receive the award. 

Aligned with Fairfield's mission to embrace global awareness, cross-cultural learning, and independent intellectual thought, the Fulbright program aims to increase mutual understanding between people of the U.S. and other countries. While their travel plans are not yet finalized due to the impact of Covid-19, they plan to travel to Europe for their Fulbright experiences. 

For Hubbs’ Fulbright experience, she will travel to Latvia to teach English. She will also conduct research to study the oral, musical, and cultural traditions maintained in Latvia as a post-Soviet occupied nation. In the future, Hubbs plans to pursue a law degree.

During her time at Fairfield, Hubbs dedicated her time to supporting local immigrant and refugee communities, often working with local non-profit Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI) in Bridgeport. She also traveled to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for two weeks in 2017 to study human trafficking of people with albinism, and she presented her research at the Fairfield University Innovative Research Symposium in 2018. 

Although Reilly’s Fulbright experience has been postponed to start next January, she has begun her PhD pursuit through Yale University’s Biochemistry, Quantitative Biology, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (BQBS) doctoral track. She hopes to pursue a career as a biochemistry professor and share her global competence and cross-cultural experiences and perspective with students. During her time at Fairfield, Reilly worked with the German Academic Exchange Service alongside Gerhard Klebe, PhD, at Phillips University of Marburg. 

The two collaborated to research novel inhibition approaches of a protein called tRNA-Guanine Transglycosylase (TGT) which has applications in treating the bacterial disease Shigellosis. The Fulbright award is Reilly’s opportunity to carry out her research in Germany once again.

For more information on Fairfield’s history of Fulbright success, visit https://bit.ly/380NFnY.

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Submitted by Fairfield, CT

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