Three USC students have won National Security Education Program (NSEP) awards for study abroad. R. Mitch Lynch and Mandy Young are both residents of South Carolina, and Jeremy Wolfe is a Kentucky native.

The NSEP David L. Boren Scholarships provide U.S. undergraduates with the resources and encouragement they need to acquire skills and experience in countries and areas of the world critical to the future security of our nation. This year NSEP granted 181 scholarships for undergraduate students.

Lynch is an anthropology major from Spartanburg. He currently manages a Web development firm but plans to pursue a career in archaeology and is a student archaeologist on campus. Lynch will study in Egypt this fall.
Wolfe is a Russian and mathematics major from Danville, Ken., and is currently studying abroad at Anglo-American University in Prague, Czech Republic. Earlier this spring he was named a Truman Scholar.

"I'm proud and honored to have been named an NSEP scholar,” Wolfe said. “My program will be in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from June until August. Making a positive change in this region requires proficiency in the native languages and NSEP will provide exactly that.”

Young is a political science and Russian studies major from Chapin. She is acting president of the Russian Club and is vice president of the Professional Society of International Studies at USC. Young will travel to Russia for the next academic year, and said “winning an NSEP is a great affirmation and first step towards a meaningful career in public service and national security.”

NSEP was established by the National Security Education Act of 1991, which created the National Security Education Board, the National Security Education Program, and a trust fund in the U.S. Treasury to provide resources for scholarships, fellowships, and grants. It is guided by a mission that seeks to lead in development of the national capacity to educate U.S. citizens, understand foreign cultures, strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness, and enhance international cooperation and security.

Twenty-seven USC students have been named NSEP winners since 1994 when the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs was established.

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