Since 2013, U-M Wallenberg Fellows have traveled the Northern and Southern hemispheres to live out the humanitarian legacy of Raoul Wallenberg. These incredible students are committed to the greater good in the work they do, the research they produce, and the lasting impact they have on the communities that welcome them during their year-long Wallenberg Fellowship experience.
Read short summaries of each Wallenberg Fellow below or click on the News Archive to read articles about each fellowship experience.
2023 - Meghana Tummala, Mexico
School: Taubman College
Major: Architecture
Fellowship Project: Exploring Architecture’s Influence in Mitigating Effects of Climate Change While Creating Social Spaces Amongst Communities Most Affected In Mexico
Location(s): Mexico
Proposal Summary: Mexico City’s unique climate issues intrigued me to explore ways architecture can be used as both community social spaces but also infrastructure that can help solve the water crisis. By engaging with existing architecture firms who are working to address the issue and local community members affected by these interventions, I can gain more knowledge on the subject, travel to different regions of Mexico and learn about their circumstances and apply my findings.
Read more about Meghana's Wallenberg Fellowship here!
2022 - Chloe Hale, Rwanda
School: LSA
Major: Political Science and Social Theory and Practice
Fellowship Project: Teenage Pregnancies in Rwanda
Location(s): Rwanda
Proposal Summary: I will rely primarily on qualitative research methods to investigate the relationship between school closures, teenage pregnancies and young women’s rights during crises. My target population will be girls who have attended at least one year of high school and their teachers, who witnessed how the pandemic impacted pregnancy and access to education.
Read more about Chloe's Wallenberg Fellowship here!
2021 - Darius Moore, Dominican Republic
School: LSA
Major: Spanish & Biology, Health and Society
Fellowship Project: The Impact of Intersectional Stigma on Access to Prevention andTreatment Services for Minoritized Groups in the Dominican Republic
Location(s): The Dominican Republic (and/or other Caribbean islands)
Proposal Summary: Through the Wallenberg Fellowship, I want to study the impacts of intersectional stigma on accessto equitable healthcare in the Dominican Republic with a particular focus on the effects ofcolorism/racism, immigration status and nationality, and sexual and gender identity.
Read more about Darius' Wallenberg Fellowship here!
2020 - Abigail Meyer, Greenland
School: College of Engineering
Major: Computer Science Engineering
Fellowship Project: Supporting Conservation of Greenlandic Lands and Culture
Location(s): Greenland
Proposal Summary: The project will consist of programmatic and physical support on the development of the new Greenlandic UNESCO World Heritage site, Aasivissuit-Nipisat, “the Inuit hunting ground between land and sea." It will involve travel between Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and Sisimiut, Greenland.
Read more about Abigail's Wallenberg Fellowship here! (Note: Delayed until 2021 due to Covid-19)
2019 - Carly Marten, Ethiopia
School: LSA
Major: Gender & Health, Linguistics
Fellowship Project: Exploring Legal Action by Survivors of Sexual Violence in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Location(s): Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Proposal Summary: I will conduct a longitudinal study on the legal behaviors of sexual violence survivors who seek medical attention at Menelik II Hospital in Addis Ababa. I will collect data on pathways and obstacles to legal recourse and share it with the intention of influencing both Ethiopian policy and resources within Menelik II Hospital.
Read more about Carly's Wallenberg Fellowship here.
2018 - Meagan Malm, Tanzania
School: Ross School of Business
Major: Entrepreneurship
Fellowship Project: The Humanitarian Potential of Mobile Phones in Tanzania
Location(s): Tanzania
Proposal Summary: Understanding how the proliferation of cellphones has allowed people to escape poverty, exploring the effects of disconnection on the abject poor, and how inducting them into the digital world couldimpact their lives. I will conduct an ethnographic study to understand the usage of cellphones andtheir impact between urban and rural populations. Then I will identify disconnected populations andmeasure the level of exclusion they experience due to disconnection, and how to overcome it.
Read more about Meagan's Wallenberg Fellowship here.
2017 - Adelia Davis, South Africa
School: LSA
Major: Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience
Fellowship Project: Cross-Cultural Consciousness
Location(s): Cape Town, South Africa
Proposal Summary: I want to use children's literature to compare the representation of blacks in the U.S. and South Africa and explore how the implicit and explicit messages children receive through early exposure to literature affect their self-image. I will use a series of books that showcase black leaders and culture to facilitate dialogues about identity and purpose with black 8-12 year olds in South Africa.
Read more about Adelia's Wallenberg Fellowship here.
2016 - Meredith Starkman, India
School: School of Music, Theater & Dance
Major: BFA Theater Program
Fellowship Project: Artistic activism: exploring the intersection of performance and social justice in Indian urban spaces
Location(s): Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bangalore, India
Proposal Summary: I will travel to India and spend several months in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bangalore, respectively. The connections I've made with organizations in each city will serve as launching pads for my own individual theatre and dance outreach work. A common thread connects the unique experiences I have included: each one pushes back against the notion that certain people are not worthy or deserving of artistic expression, and capitalizes on the healing, transformative capacity of performance.
Read more about Meredith's Wallenberg Fellowship here.
2015 - Bjørnar Haveland, Lebanon & Kenya
School: Taubman College of Architecture and Urban planning
Major: Architecture
Fellowship Project: Permanently displaced: Exploring the humanitarian potential of architecture in protracted refugee situations in Lebanon and Kenya
Location(s): Lebanon & Kenya
Proposal Summary: In the proposed project I will travel to two refugee camps that has become permanent settlements. I will stay for ten months in Resheideh in Lebanon, and another two months in Dadaab Kenya. Reshiedieh is one of the world’s oldest refugee camps dating, while Dadaab is the world’s largest. I will study how society adapts to permanent encampment and how architectural expertise can be used in a refugee setting.
Read more about Bjørnar's Wallenberg Fellowship here.
2014 - Lily Bonadonna, Peru
School: LSA
Major: Anthropology
Fellowship Project: The Socio-Cultural Components of Tuberculosis Prevalence among populations in Lima, Peru
Location(s): Lima, Peru
Proposal Summary: This project will focus on addressing the social determinants of tuberculosis prevalence in Lima, Perú and surrounding areas. Although it is a preventable disease, tuberculosis continues to spread in dense, urban centers among low socioeconomic status individuals. Through ethnographic research methods employing a participant-observer approach, community engagement projects, and collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Salud, I will write both a critical anthropological analysis of tuberculosis and creative non-fiction accounts of the people and environments I encounter.
Read more about Lily's Wallenberg Fellowship here.
2013 - Zachary Petroni, Kenya
School: Ford School of Publich Policy
Major: Public Policy
Fellowship Project: Top-Down or Bottom-Up: A Comparative Analysis of Conservation Governance and Conservation Outcomes for Local Peoples/Areas
Location(s): Kenya
Proposal Summary: The proposed project is designed to explore the ways in which different approaches to conservation governance in Kenya influence conservation outcomes for local people. It includes a comparative analysis of gonverance across five distinct conservation landscapes, relying upon quantitative and qualitative data to measure the consequences of each conservation method on local people.
Read more about Zachary's Wallenberg Fellowship here.
