(Posted April 22, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Justin Schultz, a senior from Economy, Pa. and the son of Paula and the late Eric Schultz, has been granted a Fulbright Fellowship to study at The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, for the 2008-2009 academic year by the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Schultz, who will graduate in May, is part of a program that sends more than 1,000 students abroad to study at foreign universities and sites.

In addition to his physics research, Schultz, who has combined mathematics into his major, tackled a mathematics research project on how the value of Pi changes when applied to non-Euclidian geometry, overseen by Catherine Stenson, associate professor of mathematics.

Schultz, who is studying physics and mathematics, will work in the lab of John Close, a professor of physics at the university. He will be working on a project designing equipment that would measure characteristics of an atomic laser beam. After his Fulbright fellowship, he will enter the doctoral program at the University of Rochester's (N.Y.) Institute of Optics.

He has participated in several major research projects in his four-year Juniata career. Most recently, he was a summer intern in 2007 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., where he worked in the research group led by William Phillips, 1997 Nobel Laureate and 1970 Juniata graduate. Schultz will also work at the NIST lab this summer before traveling to Australia.

In his senior year, Schultz worked on two independent research projects: an exploration into characterizing a laser light by using rubidium vapor, overseen by James White, professor of physics, and a research project on how the value of Pi changes when applied to non-Euclidian geometry, overseen by Catherine Stenson, associate professor of mathematics.

In 2006, Schultz received the Andrew Mutch Scholarship from the St. Andrews Society of Philadelphia and studied abroad at the University of Edinboro for the entire academic year. He also has presented his research at professional conferences, including presentations at a meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers and the Division of Atomic and Molecular Optical Physics, where he was just one of five undergraduates from across the country to talk on an individual research project. He also presented his research this year at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Md., and at Juniata's Liberal Arts Symposium.

He currently serves as the president of the Society of Physics Students and serves as treasurer of The Null Set, Juniata's student club for mathematics. He was president of the Null Set club in 2005-2006.
Schultz is a recipient of the Calvert Ellis Scholarship at Juniata.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 290,000 participants worldwide with the opportunity to observe each others' political, economic and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world's inhabitants. In the past 56 years, 100,000 students from the United States have benefited from the Fulbright experience.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Financial support is provided by an annual appropriation from Congress to the Department of State, with significant contributions from participating governments and host institutions in the United States and abroad. The presidentially appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board formulates policy guidelines and makes the final selection of all grantees.

The Institute of International Education administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the U.S. Student Program, including an annual competition for the scholarships.

The Fulbright Program also awards grants to American teachers and faculty to do research, lecture and teach overseas. In addition, some 2,200 foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, carry out research and lecture at U.S. universities, colleges and secondary schools.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.