NU System Awards Two Mavericks With Graduate Fellowships

University of Nebraska System (NU System) President Ted Carter has announced the five recipients of 2022-23 Presidential Graduate Fellowships. The prestigious fellowships are awarded to a select group of NU System graduate students each year on the basis of high academic performance and personal accomplishment. Fellows receive an annual stipend made available through the University of Nebraska Foundation that allows them to pursue their studies full-time.

This year’s fellowships are awarded to one student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and two students each at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and University of Nebraska Medical Center. Recipients are pursuing advanced degrees in sociology, public administration, English, nursing and biomedical sciences.

“Presidential Graduate Fellows are among the best and brightest students at the University of Nebraska System,” Carter said. “They are accomplished scholars, service-minded leaders, and outstanding ambassadors for our university. We are grateful for the generous private support that allows these talented students to devote themselves fully to their studies.”

UNO’s recipients are:

Reyna Reyes Núñez, a Ph.D. candidate in Public Administration

Specializing in public policy, Núñez is expected to earn her Ph.D. in public administration next August. She is the author of several published research pieces tied to social equity. Earning her Master's degree in Political Science from UNO, she has served as a teaching assistant since 2018 within the School of Public Administration and Disaster Science and Emergency Management program. Núñez has also had a number of roles within the public sector, including serving as an executive assistant in the Office of the Consul of Mexico, as well as volunteering in the community for causes such as creating informational health materials for Spanish-speaking communities and visits to the Children's Hospital of Toluca in Mexico.

Iona Newman, a Masters student in English

Expecting to graduate in May 2023, Newman is a British and Anglophone Literature scholar and writer. Also earning her Bachelor of Arts from UNO, she has received awards including the Madden Fine Arts Scholarship, James C. Horejs English Scholarship, Marian Basler Scholarship for Writing, and recognition in the Young Adult Fiction Short Story Category of the 2016 Writer's Digest writing competition. At UNO, Newman has been involved through service to the English graduate program and Medieval and Renaissance Studies program including serving as a graduate teaching assistant, editor of the 13th Floor Magazine, and a consultant for the UNO Writing Center.

Other recipients of this year's grants came from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of Nebraska-Lincoln.