May 30, 2007 - Recent graduate Kevin Mistry ‘07 has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship for study at the University of Austria next year, it was announced earlier this spring.

Mistry, who came to Harvey Mudd College from Randolph, N.J., will be conducting research on Bose-Einstein condensates at the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. He will be working with Hanns-Christoph Nagerl of the ultracold atoms and quantum gases group at the institute. Mistry also plans to take courses in German and advanced physics.

“I applied for the Fulbright partly because I didn’t take the opportunity to participate in Study Abroad,” Mistry said, “but now I’ve found a way to go abroad and learn about new culture while still pursuing physics research.”

Associate Professor of Music William Alves, who serves as Fulbright coordinator at HMC, said, “While the Fulbrights encompass a number of different types of award, the student award that Kevin got is a highly competitive and prestigious honor. Instituted by Congress during the Cold War, the Fulbrights were intended as a way to institute high level academic and social exchange between the brightest and most talented Americans with their counterparts in countries throughout the world. Thus Fulbright awardees are not only very talented scholars, but also chosen to be academic ambassadors of the United States.”

Administered by the Institute of International Education, the Fulbright awards for U.S. students are sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The Fulbright Program is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. It was established in 1946 by the U.S. Congress to “enable the government of the United States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”