Noam Zipris (BA, ’26, history) is one of nine University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students and graduates offered a Fulbright grant to pursue international education, research, and teaching experiences around the globe this coming year.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which builds international relationships to help solve global challenges. This flagship international educational exchange program of the U.S. government awards grants to students based on their academic and professional achievement as well as their ambassadorial skills and leadership potential. The Fulbright student program will fund more than 2,000 U.S. citizens to live abroad for the 2026-27 academic year.
“The Fulbright program provides opportunities not just around the globe, but across disciplines,” said David Schug, director of the National and International Scholarships Program at Illinois. “Our Illinois recipients are pursuing careers in law, medicine and education. They are future environmentalists, immigration specialists and professors, all seeking to enrich their profession and better support others with their Fulbright experiences.”
Zipris, who is from Highland Park, Ill., will use his Fulbright award to earn a master’s degree in advanced public and cultural diplomacy for international relations at the L’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy. Zipris received a bachelor’s degree in history with minors in Italian and legal studies this spring from Illinois. He dedicated substantial time beyond his courses at Illinois gaining a fuller understanding of Italy’s language, history and education system. Zipris’ interest originated from a routine course to fulfill a language requirement in his first year of college and evolved into taking yearly Italian courses at Illinois, enrolling in an immersive summer program at Middlebury College in Vermont and eventually studying abroad for a term at University of Pavia in the Lombardy region of Italy. Upon completing his Fulbright experience, the Highland Park High School alumnus intends to pursue a juris doctor degree with a concentration in international law, combining his legal expertise and knowledge of Italy to contribute to the diplomatic relationship between Italy and the United States.