3 Texas State University students receive Fulbright U.S. Student Awards for 2026-2027

Three Texas State University students have received Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to pursue English Teaching Assistantships or conduct independent research during the 2026–2027 award year.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected in an open, merit-based competition that considers the quality and feasibility of the applicants’ proposals, academic and professional achievement, and the extent to which the candidates and their projects will help advance the Fulbright mission of cultural exchange.

The TXST awardees listed below join an international network of Fulbright alumni that includes 63 Nobel Prize laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize recipients, 83 MacArthur Fellows, 46 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders worldwide across all sectors and industries.

• Ryan McBroom
  • master’s student, management of technical education
  • Costa Rica, English Teaching Assistant Program
  • McBroom will teach English and American culture at a secondary school, vocational institution, or university in a rural area of Costa Rica in preparation for pursuing a Ph.D. in adult and community education, exploring how cultural narratives and intercultural experiences influence student learning.
• Martin Rivera
  • bachelor’s student, history and education
  • Germany, English Teaching Assistant Program
  • Rivera will teach English and American culture in a primary or secondary school in Germany in preparation for his prospective career as a high school history teacher.
• Stephanie Robertson
  • master’s student, adult, professional, and community education
  • Brazil, Study/Research Award
  • In affiliation with the Federal University of Viçosa, Robertson will investigate Brazil’s correctional education program Remição pela Leitura (Remission through Reading) to examine the potential for reflective reading practices to cultivate hope in incarcerated men, which is linked to reduced recidivism. 

In addition, the following TXST undergraduate alum was designated as an Alternate Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant recipient and may be awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student grant if additional funding becomes available.

• Memphis Mallory
  • Bachelor of Arts (Fall 2025), German and anthropology
  • Austria, Study/Research Award

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at TXST Pranesh Aswath, Ph.D., applauded this year’s Fulbright grantees, stating, “These Fulbright recipients exemplify the intellectual curiosity, civic engagement, and global perspective that define Texas State University’s commitment to student success. As they represent both our university and the United States abroad, they will contribute meaningfully to international understanding while advancing research, education, and cross-cultural collaboration in their host communities.”

Each year, approximately 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grantees—recent college graduates, graduate students and early career professionals—pursue graduate study, conduct independent research or teach English in schools abroad. These awardees are recognized alongside hundreds of faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals who teach or conduct research abroad annually through the separate Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.

This student success announcement builds on TXST’s recent selection as a Top Producing Institution for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, based on the university’s performance in last year’s competition. With the recent 2026 awardees, TXST has now produced more Fulbright student grantees in the past five years than in the previous five decades.

Celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2026 in tandem with the United States’ 250th anniversary, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Since 1946, Fulbright has provided talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with international opportunities to study, teach, and conduct research. Fulbright grantees forge partnerships between institutions and nations, through which grantees exchange cultural ideas, form lasting collaborations and work to address complex global challenges.

Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Fulbright Program in partnership with more than 160 countries worldwide. In the United States, the Institute of International Education implements the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered at TXST by the TXST Fulbright Program Advisers (FPAs). Students and recent alumni interested in applying should contact the FPA corresponding to their degree level.