James Sauro ’16, a major in international affairs and psychology from Bethesda, Md., has been awarded a David L. Boren Scholarship. These scholarships support undergraduate study in areas of the world that are critical to US interests and underrepresented in study-abroad programs, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Sauro will participate in an intensive Arabic language program in Amman, Jordan, from June to the end of August, then a semester-long area-and-language study.

In accordance with the Boren Scholarship’s one-year federal service requirement, Sauro plans to seek a position in the federal government upon graduating, but said he will explore career options in both the public and private sector, as well as graduate programs.

“I think the language skills and cultural understanding I hope to gain over the next six months will be valuable in whatever field I land,” said Sauro, who hopes to conduct research for his senior thesis while in Jordan.

Graduate School of Social Work doctoral student Amy Griffin ’05 has been awarded a Congressional Policy Fellowship from the Society for Research in Childhood Development, a one-year placement that involves working in the office of a member of Congress or for a Congressional committee or support agency.

“This fellowship offers the opportunity to influence policy with child development research, inform the research community about the importance of public policy, and act as an intermediary between the two,” said Griffin, who is a teaching assistant for Donahue and DiFelice Professor of Social Work Ruth McRoy.

Griffin said her interest in the research-policy-social work connection stems from her work while an MSW student at the University of Pennsylvania with two young brothers from a troubled family who had been placed in separate foster homes due to a lack of placement policy. The experience fueled her decision to switch from clinical social work to a policy-and-research track and take an internship that enabled her to advocate for children and families on a macro level. Later, she contributed research as a participant in the Massachusetts Dually Involved Youth Working Group, which concentrates on youth who are involved with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.  

“I believe more researchers with a commitment to child development are needed in the political arena,” said Griffin. “The fellowship will provide me the ability to link child welfare centered research to public policy with the hopes that one day, I will be able to be part of policy creation that will help to improve children’s lives, like those two young brothers.”

• Connell School of Nursing rising junior Laura Mata has been awarded a Fund for Education Abroad Scholarship to support her upcoming study abroad semester in Ecuador. She is the first-ever Boston College student to win a FEA scholarship. Read full story here.

• Michael Weston-Murphy ’10 has received a Lisa Goldberg Fellowship at the New York University Wagner School of Public Service for this fall. The fellowship was established for rising leaders in public service who seek careers in philanthrophy or Jewish leadership. For the past three years, Weston-Murphy, co-founder of Al-Noor: The Boston College Undergraduate Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, has been an employee for the Archdiocese of New York, managing a campaign to support the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

• Benjamin Gilman Scholarships for summer study were awarded to Sothavy Doeur ’15 (in Cambodia) and Saron Tekie ’15  (Ireland); Carson Truesdell ’17 (Italy) was named an alternate.

• Matthew F. Evans ’15, whose research interests focus on the cell biology of neuron growth, was awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, considered the premier undergraduate fellowship in the sciences. Read more