Emory College senior Kyle Niezgoda was named one of 18 nationwide Luce Scholars recipients this month, according to Director of National Scholarships and Fellowships Dee McGraw.
Niezgoda is also the only recipient from Emory.
The Luce Scholars Award is a yearlong fellowship given to students from various academic disciplines and provides stipends, language training and individualized professional placement in Asia for applicants ranging from college seniors to professionals up to 29 years old, according to the Luce Scholars website.
Niezgoda, an Environmental Studies and Mathematics double major, will learn his country placement in late April or May. He is the University’s seventh Luce Scholar since 1999 and this year is the third Emory recipient in the last three years, according to McGraw.
Berry Brosi, Environmental Sciences professor and Niezgoda’s faculty advisor, said the selection of Niezgoda did not come as a surprise.
“Kyle stands out for several reasons – intelligence, curiosity and quantitative abilities among them,” Brosi said. “He is also very interested in climate issues and how they relate to Asia.”
Outside his role as an advisor, Brosi has gotten to know Niezgoda professionally. Niezgoda served as a field assistant in Brosi’s Colorado research lab, working on projects dealing with bee pollination ecology.
“Kyle is naturally very curiosity-driven, and he has let his interests drive him, rather than focusing on things just to build his resume,” Brosi said.
“I think this experience will be transformative for Kyle in terms of giving him the kind of broadened world view that one can only get by immersive living and working in a very different culture.”
The selection process for the Luce Scholars is a long, involved process that focuses on personal traits and goals, according to Niezgoda.
After submitting a personal statement reflecting on long-term career interests, ideas of leadership and his reason for applying to the scholarship, Niezgoda said he went through several rounds of interviews with past Luce Scholars.
Niezgoda said he believes he was recognized due to his academic success and leadership potential, especially demonstrated through his work with Brosi.
He applied to the scholarship, he said, under the future goal of a career in climatology and meteorology, although he joked, “nobody really knows what their career path will be at the age of 21.”
Niezgoda added that his passion and fascination with the weather came from his background in rural Delaware, where he spent a lot of time interacting with the natural world.
After he completes his year abroad through the scholarship program, Niezgoda hopes to use his experience to grow as a person and take steps toward a Ph.D. in atmospheric science.
“I hope this opportunity gives me a chance to grow and develop both as an academic and personally as a global citizen,” Niezgoda said.
“Global collaborative research is essential to successful research, so hopefully my year in Asia will allow me to gather the connections and resources to make this type of work a reality [in] the future.”
Niezgoda said that since his selection for the scholarship he has experienced many emotions about the experience.
“There are so many feelings I’ve experienced over the past few weeks or so – extreme excitement, pride, humility and honestly quite a bit of nervousness,” Niezgoda said.
“I know very little about Eastern culture, and now I’m going to be thrown into it all … It’s quite overwhelming at some points.”
Nonetheless, Niezgoda said it is a “dream come true,” and a dream that could not be possible without his experiences at Emory.
“Brosi has been an incredible advisor and has helped me more than I could ever ask for,” Niezgoda said.
“Without his belief in me, I wouldn’t be anywhere close to where I am today.”
Niezgoda also attributed his selection to the rich cultural diversity at Emory that propelled him to understanding cultural acceptance and the support of friends and his classmates.
“[Spending] the past four years with bright students and future leaders from all over the globe opened my mind to the world around me and opportunities that exist outside of America,” Niezgoda said.
– By Stephen Fowler
Stephen Fowler 16C is the political reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, the statewide NPR affiliate in Georgia. He graduated from Emory with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and covered the central administration and Greek Life for the Wheel before serving as assistant news editor, Emory Life editor and the Executive Digital Editor from 2015-16.
You are an awesome young man and we are so very proud of you!