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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Monica Mukerjee, of Canton, a Michigan State University senior, added a Marshall Scholarship to her "I am thankful for…" list this holiday season.

While waiting to chat with a professor about her recent international scholarship interviews, she noticed an unfamiliar number on her cell phone.  A kind and clipped British voice informed her she had been named a 2008 Marshall Scholar.

Mukerjee is among up to 40 college graduates and upper-level undergraduates throughout the United States to receive the scholarship for two years of study in the United Kingdom. The scholarship covers university fees, cost-of-living expenses, research and travel grants, and fares to and from the United States.

"I am so unbelievably excited," said Mukerjee, who found out the good news on Nov. 19. "Everyone in the Marshall interview process was so kind. I felt like a winner when I walked out of the room. It's hard to believe someone would give a person my age a chance for so much success.

"This award recognizes my accomplishments, and it allows me to work with some of the prominent faculty studying and researching issues of gender, international relations and war."

Mukerjee shared the news with her parents, Rahul and Indrani Mukerjee, who now have mixed emotions. While thrilled about their daughter's honor, it means that she will be heading to the United Kingdom and won't be coming home on weekends.

Instead, she will pursue a master's of science degree at Oxford University in Oxford, England, and conduct groundbreaking research on the policies and impacts of forced migration. Her studies will include developing strategies to prevent sexual exploitation of children by aid workers in refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In her second year of the scholarship, she will pursue a master's of philosophy degree at the University of Sussex, in Sussex, England, and continue her research in gender and development.

Although gender is increasingly being addressed in international development, women continue to suffer devastating social inequalities that stem from violations of human rights, Mukerjee said, adding that it's past time to focus on building policies allowing for genuine empowerment in communities.

"It is vital that international development and refugee policies are appropriately aimed at creating treatments that cater to survivors’ needs," she said. "If research is not done on a global level to evaluate the effectiveness of these policies, the situation for refugees and displaced populations may worsen. As civilian-based conflicts increase around the world, we must look at these problems and humanize issues facing men, women and children."

"Monica has the passion, intellect and deep-seated commitment to gender and conflict studies to affect meaningful change for individuals, organizations and communities around the world," said Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, dean of the MSU Honors College. "Michigan State University's tradition of excellence and outreach are certainly embodied in Monica's approach and scholarship."

She is majoring in international relations in the James Madison College and psychology in the College of Social Science. She is a member of the MSU Honors College. A 2004 graduate of Salem High School, Mukerjee is a 2007 Truman Scholar, and the recipient of a Spartan Scholarship, among others. She has volunteered at several Lansing and East Lansing area social services centers, including the Refugee Development Center in Lansing and the Listening Ear Crisis Intervention Center in East Lansing.

The Marshall Scholarships were founded by an Act of Parliament in 1953 and commemorate the humane ideals of the European Recovery Program or Marshall Plan. They are funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and administered by the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission in the United Kingdom. The selection process in the United States is administered by the British Council on behalf of the British Embassy in Washington.

For more on the Marshall scholarships, visit www.marshallscholarship.org.

The MSU Marshall Record

• Monica Mukerjee is MSU's 12^th Marshall Scholar.
  
• Since 2000, MSU ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten with three Marshall Scholars; historically, MSU is fifth in the Big Ten with 12 Marshall Scholars.
  
• Mukerjee is MSU's third Marshall Scholarship recipient in three years; elsewhere in the state, the University of Michigan had recipients in 2005 and 2006, and Alma College had a scholarship recipient in 2005.
  
• Upon completion of advanced degrees in the United Kingdom, Marshall Scholars from MSU have had successful careers in education, publishing, law, government and business.
  
• In addition to the Marshall Scholars, MSU has: 16 Rhodes Scholars, 15 Churchill Scholars, 23 Goldwater Scholars, 15 Truman Scholars, seven Udall scholars, four Hollings Scholars, two Gates Scholars and one Mitchell Scholar.
  
• MSU also has had 56 Fulbright Scholars, and 64 National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships have been awarded to MSU undergraduates going on to graduate school.

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