Number of awards reinforces college’s reputation as a leader on a global stage
For the second consecutive year, Ohio State has been recognized as one of the nation’s top producers of Fulbright award recipients. Equally important, Ohio State is one of only seven institutions recognized as a top producer for both the Fulbright U.S. Student and Fulbright U.S. Scholar programs.
This recognition affirms the university’s role as a global leader in teaching, research and collaboration around the globe.
The college played a significant role in that achievement, with 12 Fulbright award recipients during the 2025-26 academic year and one new awardee for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Together, the scholars, working with visiting students and researchers or traveling abroad, demonstrate the college’s growing influence in education, human sciences and interdisciplinary research around the world.
“Fulbright opportunities create transformative connections that advance scholarship, strengthen international partnerships and expand excellence and understanding across cultures,” said Interim Dean Erik Porfeli.
“We are incredibly proud of our faculty and our one student who earned Fulbright awards this year. We are equally honored that talented scholars from around the world continue to choose our college for research collaboration and advanced degrees."
"Their decisions reflect the strength of our faculty expertise, the efforts of our faculty and staff to cultivate these relationships and our shared commitment to addressing challenges that make a difference globally.”
From classrooms and communities to research labs and policy discussions, the college's Fulbright recipients help extend Ohio State’s impact around the world. The new perspectives and experiences they bring to campus broaden our ability to make a difference.
Three college faculty received Fulbright U.S Scholar Awards
Xin Feng, professor of human development and family science, Department of Human Sciences, is studying the “Development of Internalizing Problems in Children of Asian and European Descent in New Zealand.” From February – June 2026, she was hosted at Massey University in New Zealand.
Based on the knowledge that Asians are the fastest-growing ethnic groups in both New Zealand and the U.S., Feng focused on the fact that in both countries, children within this population have faced increasing depression, anxiety and decreased life satisfaction.
By understanding the emergence, progression, associated risk and protective factors, she aims to identify key targets for early prevention and intervention efforts.
Christopher Zirkle, associate professor of technical and career education, Department of Educational Studies, received a 2025-2026 Fulbright U.S. Scholar ASEAN Research Award. His plans involved conducting a study of technical-vocational education and training teachers in three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
He recently presented “A comparative analysis of the professional development needs of VET teachers in Finland and the state of Ohio in the United States” at the Annual Conference of the Nordic Research Network on Vocational Education and Training in Jyväskylä, Finland.
Zirkle has extended his scholarship abroad many time in the past, including to China. The country has already implemented some changes to its teacher qualification policies, which he hopes are partly due to his efforts.
In breaking news, Aina Appova, associate professor of mathematics education, Department of Teaching and Learning, Marion Regional Campus, recently received a 2026-2027 Fulbright Scholar award for the new academic year to Türkiye. She calls her research and teaching “Project SMART (Strengthening Multiplicative and Algebraic Reasoning for Teaching): Aligning Teacher Preparation with Curriculum Standards and Assessments.”
Her goal is to improve K-8 preservice teachers’ knowledge, understanding and development of this type of reasoning content and share findings through scholarly dissemination and research outputs.
Appova undertakes this work because many teachers enter preparation programs with persistent misconceptions that hinder their capacity to teach mathematics and STEM disciplines. Her research and teaching will endeavor to address the gap.
Three Fulbright Visiting Scholars came to the college during 2025-2026
Sini Bask is a senior lecturer and special education teacher trainer at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in Finland. She also is the international activities officer for the university’s School for Professional Teacher Education.
With her Fulbright Finland Travel Grant for Institutional Partnership Building, Bask spend autumn semester 2025 at Ohio State, working with Chris Zirkle, associate professor of workforce development and education, Department of Educational Studies. Her trip was a follow-up to Zirkle’s prior two visits to Finland. They are working on a joint research project comparing the professional development needs of vocational education teachers in Finland and the United States.
Their main conclusion is that regardless of the country, the professional development needs of vocational teachers look alike, including the remedies for supporting the varied backgrounds and experiences of students and keeping up with the accelerating presence of AI in education.
The Fulbright Finland Foundation highlighted their collaboration.
Bonjana Vignjevic Korotaj is an assistant professor in the Department of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, at the University of Rijeka, Croatia. Her award brought her to Ohio State for spring semester 2026. She worked with Chris Zirkle, associate professor of workforce development and education. Her research focused on exploring how initial education and training for career and technical education (CTE) teachers contribute to the development of their professional identity.
During her visit, she conducted narrative interviews with teacher candidates currently enrolled in the college’s initial teacher education program, as well as experienced CTE teachers who had previously completed the same program. In addition, she organized a focus group with faculty members teaching in the program to gain insights from the perspectives of teacher candidates, practicing teachers and teacher educators, providing a comprehensive understanding of the program's role in shaping professional identity.
Ranta Butarbutar, PhD, was most recently a lecturer at Universitas Musamus Merauke, Indonesia. She came to Ohio State beginning in autumn 2025 to work with Peter Sayer, professor of foreign, second and multilingual language education in the Department of Teaching and Learning.
Butarbutar focused her research on the use of pedagogical technology to support sustainable professional development for teachers in rural Papua, a province located in the western half of the island of New Guinea. She aims to design an effective model and training module tailored to the needs of educators in remote areas. She has a recent publication resulting from her work at Ohio State, "Rural teachers’ perceptions of web-based collaborative learning to improve EFL speaking skills."
Butarbutar holds several patents for approaches to instruction aided by technology. For instance, she and the college's Associate Professor Adrian Rodgers recently received a patent for their Adaptive Speaking Pedagogy Framework.
Six Fulbright Foreign Students are studying during 2025-2026
Mohammad Tazrian Abid
From: Bangladesh
Studying for: MS in Human Nutrition
Research interest: Examining global plasma microRNA expression profiles in relation to the severity of ADHD symptoms and emotional dysregulation. How multi-nutrient supplementation may influence molecular biomarkers and differential treatment responses among individuals with ADHD. In July, he presented research at NUTRITION 2026, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.
Advisor: Irene Hatsu, professor of human nutrition, Department of Human Sciences
Muhammad Arif Rahman Hakim
From: Indonesia
Role in home country: Associate professor in English language education, Fatmawati Sukarno State Islamic University, Bengkulu
Studying for: PhD in foreign, second and multilingual language education
Research Interest: Implementation of a U.S. government-sponsored competency enhancement training program for madrasah English language teachers in Indonesia. He aims to strengthen his research and publication through engagement with a supportive academic environment and plans to share his U.S. experiences with institutions and colleagues in Indonesia.
Advisor: Peter Sayer, professor of foreign, second and multilingual language education
Maria Teresa Cruz Minaya
From: Dominican Republic
Role in home country: She was most recently director of the Dominican nonprofit Cincinnatus Institute of Craftsmanship, which connects youth to training and job placement in the technology sector. She has close to 10 years of professional experience working with Dominican youth in different educational settings and in varying capacities.
Studying for: MA in Educational Studies, Educational Psychology specialization
Research interest: Exploring Dominican students' educational experiences, with a focus on the individual and systemic factors that shape their opportunities and outcomes. How these experiences inform students' perceptions of their own abilities and educational attainment, as well as their motivations and engagement in learning.
Advisor: Michael Glassman, professor of educational psychology, Department of Educational Studies
Aspri Ayu Jarlismi
From: Indonesia, Central Lampung, Lampung
Role in home country: Physics teacher at SMAN 1 Bandar Mataram
Current program: MA in STEM education
Research Interest: Understanding the cognitive demand of physics problems used in assessment, examining whether problems perceived as complex truly require the level of thinking they appear to, and how teachers perceive and use these problems in their own classrooms.
Advisor: Lin Ding, professor of STEM education, Department of Teaching and Learning
Riana Murianty
From: Indonesia
Role in home country: Lecturer in English Education at Universitas Papua, Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia
Current program: PhD in Multilingual Language Education
Research interest: Teacher identity, legitimacy and belonging in English language education within the Papuan-Indonesian context. How English teachers in marginalized and multilingual settings negotiate their professional identities amid linguistic, cultural and educational changes. Also, the emerging role of generative AI in language education and its implications for teacher identity and classroom practice.
Advisor: Leslie Moore, associate professor of foreign, second and multilingual language education, Department of Teaching and Learning
Khosbayar Nyamsuren
From: Mongolia
Current program: MA in Higher Education and Student Affairs
Role in home country: Head of International Relations and Cooperation Office, Otgontenger University
Research interests: Internationalization of higher education and how institutional policies and practices shape students' academic and personal experiences - particularly for students who navigate these experiences across cultural and national boundaries. Also, student development and how universities can better support students as they balance education, professional work and other responsibilities.
Advisor: Tatiana Suspitsyna, professor of higher education and student affairs, Department of Educational Studies
One South Korea Fulbright Student for 2025-2026
Emily Baldwin
Graduated: ’25 BSEd Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, TESOL/ESL Language Instructor, Department of Teaching and Learning; minor in Korean, College of Arts and Sciences
Currently serving as: English teaching assistant at Sanae Elementary School with just under 200 students, in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea
Teaching assignment: Baldwin is the only regular English teacher in the school and works with grades 3-6. The designated curriculum uses the audio-lingual method and features drilling and repetition of language points. She uses a mix of English and Korean when explaining language points.
"Many faculty members helped me apply for my Fulbright," Baldwin said. "Senior Lecturer Steven Wisnor (TESOL, Department of Teaching and Learning) encouraged my application and wrote one of my recommendations. I worked with Professor Thomas McDow (Department of History) and Louise Edwards (international program specialist, Office of International Affairs) to build my application during Ohio State’s 2024 Fulbright workshop. Another of my recommendations was written by Professor Esther Yoon of the Korean department."
