The Fulbright Program has named Johns Hopkins University as a top producer of student grantees for the 16th consecutive year, offering 14 grants to Hopkins students and recent graduates during its 2025-26 application cycle.
The Fulbright Program was founded by the U.S. State Department in 1946 and has since become one of the world's largest and most prestigious international academic exchange programs. Several thousand U.S. students and scholars are given grants each year, with the full program supporting roughly 9,000 people.
"Johns Hopkins takes immense pride in our standing as a top producer of Fulbright scholars," says Justin Lorts, senior director of scholars and fellows programs at the Center for Student Success. "It reflects the university's commitment to global leadership and our mission to bring the benefits of discovery to the world."
The current Hopkins grantees span 12 countries and four continents. The Hub caught up with four of them to learn more:
Sophie D'Anieri
A&S, PhD candidate in Anthropology Field: Anthropology Location: El Salto, Mexico
Image caption: Sophie D'Anieri at an exhibit in Mexico
"I'm spending this year doing fieldwork for my dissertation tentatively titled: 'Breathing Life into Death: Reimagining Politics Amid Chronic Violence and Industrial Toxicity in El Salto, Mexico.' El Salto is located in peripheral Guadalajara and is home to more than 900 industrial manufacturing facilities across diverse types of industry, including food production, auto manufacturing, and chemical, pharmaceutical, and electronic industries. Many of these industries pollute with impunity, marking the population with high rates of cancer, kidney disease, and respiratory illness. My project explores how persistent chronic toxicity alongside decades of state abandonment gain expression in the everyday labors of domestic life.
"While I've been coming to El Salto for three years now, having a sustained period of time to conduct this research has been critical. The time allowed by this Fulbright grant allows for a deeper enmeshment in the fabric of everyday life, making possible insights and understandings that can only be learned through, for instance, witnessing the everyday management of chronic disease as months go by, or accompanying someone as she searches for where and with whom her voice might find a foothold.
"I've been tremendously lucky with the folks in El Salto with whom I've been able to do this work. Their generosity to bring me into their lives and their patience to sit, discuss, and think with me is something that I am continually taken by and grateful for."
Ginger Trask
A&S '25, BA in History and International Science, Master's in History Field: History Location: National University of Samoa, Samoa
Image caption: Ginger Trask at the U.S. Embassy in Samoa
"Thus far, I have been culturally and linguistically immersing myself in Samoa and getting the lay of the land. I spent the first two weeks living with a host family in Tafatafa, playing with the kids, trying Samoan foods, and learning about all things fa'asamoa ["the Samoan way"]. I'm now moved into my own apartment in a village near the capital, Apia, and have started driving (on the left side!) around. I've started my research exploring the tourism industry in Samoa and planning for who I
