Contact: Carl Smith

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Chance Lowe, a senior German and criminology double major who is minoring in Russian, is Mississippi State’s fourth David L. Boren Scholarship recipient in the past five years.

Sponsored by the National Security Education Program, the Boren Scholarship is named for former U.S. Sen. David Boren, the principal author of the legislation that created the NSEP. The Washington, D.C.-based Institute of International Education administers the award to U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who represent diverse fields of study and are committed to enhancing their language skills and cultural awareness.

Lowe, a Columbus resident whose resumé includes service in the U.S. Army as a cryptologic linguist and with the U.S. Forest Service as a wildland firefighter, anticipates studying Russian abroad, but those plans are on hold because of the current geopolitical situation in Ukraine.

“The program’s goals really align with mine in terms of critical language development and federal service. I hope I live up to their expectations and make this a worthwhile investment for both of us,” he said. “Receiving this scholarship is huge. I’m very humbled by this opportunity.”

Shackouls Honors College Office of Prestigious External Scholarships Director David Hoffman commended Lowe for his award and said the senior’s scholarship application clearly articulated how the unique learning experience would be applied to future government service.

“His excitement to learn the language so that he could better do his future job was palpable,” said Hoffman, who is also an associate professor within the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures. “The Boren Scholarship program is particularly interested in fostering study abroad for veterans, so his prior service to the country was certainly a positive, which is an advantage available to all of our veteran and active-duty students here at MSU.”

For more information about the Shackouls Honors College and its Office of Prestigious External Scholarships, visit www.honors.msstate.edu.

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