A UNC grad student and a Carolina alumna have been awarded the National Security Education Program’s David L. Boren Fellowship.

Christine Kim and Julia Tenyotkin were awarded the Boren Fellowship, which supports a field of study – particularly languages – identified as vital to national security.

The scholarship is valued at $30,000 and is awarded to graduate students in exchange that the students pursue a career working in the federal government – specifically departments like defense, homeland security or other intelligence agencies after graduation.

Mary Floyd-Wilson, director of Carolina’s Office of Distinguished Scholarships, said in release that the Boren Fellowship is vital for students to study topics that are important to national security.

“The Boren Fellowship is among the few awards available to fund deep pursuit of language study for graduate students, and the award underlines the commitment of both the federal government and the Institute of International Education to educate our country’s citizens,” Floyd-Wilson said.

Kim is currently a doctoral student in health policy and management in UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. She graduated with a degree in History from University of California-Berkeley in 2007 and earned a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in 2011.

The Boren Fellowship will allow Kim to travel to Uganda where she plans to complete a project focused on improving community-based learning, according to the university.

Tenyotkin graduated from UNC in 2012 with a Global Studies and Peace, War and Defense double major and a Chinese minor. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in International Affairs at Monterey Institute of International Studies.

The Boren Fellowship will enable Tenyotkin to study Mandarin in China where she plans to complete a project focuses on understanding the South China Sea conflict.

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