College supports students' summer work with endowed internship funds

June 8, 2009

MIDDLEBURY, Vt.-Thirty-three Middlebury College undergraduates were selected from more than 131 applicants to receive Middlebury funding for unpaid internships with national and international organizations and companies this summer.

“Access to funding for unpaid internships provides our students with ‘real life’ experiences outside the classroom and supports our mission to help students better understand and practice the skills needed for success in today’s global community,” said Susan Walker, associate director of career services. “Our students’ depth of involvement in these internships demonstrates again how Middlebury is a model for the liberal arts in the 21st century.”

The Ronald H. Brown ‘62 internship program awards stipends of $3,000 and is open to juniors for work in any industry anywhere in the world. The 2009 recipients are:

Nasser Alidoust ‘10, of Middlebury, interning at Princeton University;
Amer Dastgir ‘10, of Dhaka, Bangladesh, with AIDS/Society Research Unit;
Bart DiFiore ‘09.5, of Gloucester, Mass., with Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research;
Annabelle Fowler ‘10, of Quito, Ecuador, with Inter-American Development Bank;
Kaelin Hand ‘09.5, of Manchester Center, Vt., with Shelburne Farms;
Nisreen Hejab ‘10, of Nablus, West Bank, at Princeton University;
Heather Merriman ‘10, of Canton, Ohio, with East Harlem School at Exodus House;
Alison Mehravari ‘10, of Ithaca, N.Y., with the Computational Physiology Lab at Cornell University;
Emma Moros ‘10, of Barre, Vt., with the U.S. Department of Education;
Jacqueline Parker ‘10, of Mystic, Conn., with Robert M. Roth, Ph.D.;
Byron Rath ‘10, of Rolla, Mo., with the Middle East Institute;
Jennifer Ridder ‘10, of Denver, Colo., with the United Nations;
Andrew Ruoss ‘10, of Wilmington, Del., with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office;
Mi Sun ‘10, of Suzhou, China, with Emerging Asia;
Hamza Usmani ‘10, of Lahore, Pakistan, with WorldNow;
and Michael West ‘09.5, of Greenville, S.C., with Emerging Asia.

The Deixler-Swain internship fund consists of one award of $1,500. This summer’s recipient is Shweta Rajbhandari ‘12, of Pokhara, Nepal, who is interning with the British Broadcasting Company.

The Digel Family internship program is open to sophomores and juniors with an interest in international community service. The $2,000 award recipient is Joseph Molefi ‘11, of Taitown, Botswana, interning with Investec Social Investment Group.

The Felton Family internship fund focuses upon business, community service, education, health or non-partisan government service, and is open to first-year students, sophomores and juniors. This year two students were selected to receive $1,650 each. They are: Xintong Le ‘12 of Shanghai, China, interning with ECOLOGIA; and Rebecca Wear ‘10.5, of Altadena, Calif., interning with Self Help Graphics and Art in Los Angeles.

The Louis Kutzner ‘51 internship program is open to sophomores and juniors interested in marketing and communications. The recipients of $2,000 grants this summer are: Elise Hanks ‘11, of Ledyard, Conn., interning with the U.S. Department of Education; and Zaheena Rasheed ‘11, of Male, Maldives, interning with the Office of the President of Maldives.

The Mahoney Family internship fund focuses on humanitarian service in the non-profit sector either in the United States or abroad. This summer’s Mahoney Family awards range from $1,500 to $3,000, and the recipients are:

Fernando Aragon ‘10, of Piura, Peru, with the Latino Commission;
Abigail Leathe ‘11, of Eliot. Maine, with WomenSafe;
Megan Mishler ‘11, of Grand Rapids, Mich., with Finca Alta Gracia;
and Lili Weckler ‘09.5, of San Anselmo, Calif., with San Francisco Mime Co.

The Middlebury Arts Council supports sophomores and juniors with stipends from $850 to $2,000 for their summer experiences in the performing or visual arts. The 2009 recipients are:

Christopher Anderson ‘10, of LaCrosse, Wis., with Focus Advisory Services;
Elizabeth Boles ‘10, of Sharon, Vt., with the Bates Dance Festival;
Jamal Davis ‘10, of Brooklyn, N.Y., with Focus Advisory Services;
Sonia Hsieh ‘10.5, of Chapel Hill, N.C., with American Dance Festival;
Nikhil Ramburn ‘10 of Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius, with TV Abierta of Guadalajara;
Rudabeh Shahid ‘10, of Baltimore, Md., with the Jewish Museum of New York;
and Hallie Woods ‘12, of Ogunquit, Maine, with Town Hall Theatre.

This year’s 33 endowed internship and alumni gift awards totaled $76,500, and the recipients were selected by a committee of Middlebury faculty and staff. The Career Services Office at Middlebury administers the funded internship program. For more information contact Susan Walker at swalker@middlebury.edu.

Media Contacts