Ben Priddy, of St. Francisville, has been awarded a David L. Boren Fellowship to study advanced Russian language and conduct research on Eurasian energy security during the 2012-13 academic year in Moscow, Russia.
While in Moscow he will study at the Higher School of Economics, after completing a separate six-week course in Central Asian energy in Almaty, Kazakstan.
Priddy is currently a graduate student at the Center for Eurasian Russian and East European Studies (CERES), in Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Priddy is a 2004 graduate of West Feliciana High School, and a 2008 graduate of LSU, where he majored in International Studies and German. Previously, he studied abroad in Novosibirsk, Russia and Jena, Germany.
David L. Boren Fellowships are sponsored by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), a major federal initiative designed to build a broader and more qualified pool of U.S. citizens with foreign language and international skills. Boren Awards provide U.S. undergraduate and graduate students with resources and encouragement to acquire language skills and experience in countries critical to the future security and stability of our nation. In exchange for funding, Boren award recipients agree to work in the federal government for a period of at least one year. “The National Security Education Program,” according to Michael A. Nugent, director of NSEP, “represents an essential component of a comprehensive national security strategy to address serious and long-time deficiencies in critical language expertise.”
“Never in our history has it been more important for America’s future leaders to have a deep understanding of the rest of the world,” says University of Oklahoma President David Boren, who as a U.S. Senator was the principal author of the legislation that created the National Security Education Program and the scholarships and fellowships that bear his name. “As we seek to lead through partnerships, respect for and understanding of other cultures and languages is absolutely essential.”
