Five UGA undergraduates werenamed 2012-13 NSEP Boren Scholars for study abroad - three of them from the Franklin College:

Five University of Georgia undergraduates-a record number-will be spending the next academic year participating in language study abroad programs thanks to the National Security Education Program David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarship.

The UGA Boren Scholars are juniors Tia Ayele of Stone Mountain, Malena Lopez-Sotelo of Rentz and John Esteban Rodriguez of Guyton, and seniors Christian Conroy of Roswell and David Gutiérrez of Albany.

Lopez-Sotelo is pursuing bachelor's degrees in Arabic and religion, and will be studying the Urdu langauge in India for a year. Rodriguez is pursuing bachelor's degrees in English and an Honors interdisciplinary major (with an international development and human rights emphasis) will take Arabic classes in Jordan for a year. Gutiérrez, who is pursuing bachelor's degrees in Spanish and sociology, is traveling to Brazil for a year to study Portuguese through the new Portuguese Flagship Program, a partnership between NSEP and UGA.

"Already this year, UGA students have received the maximum number of Goldwater scholarships allowed per institution, and set new institutional records with Udall and Fulbright scholarships, so to have a new record number of Boren recipients as well is very exciting," said David S. Williams, associate provost and director of UGA's Honors Program. "Taken together, this level of success underscores that UGA is now a national leader in major scholarship competitions. I know our five new Boren Scholars will take full advantage of the immersive experiences this stellar scholarship provides."