By Anneliese Mackel and Kristin Janka

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University undergraduate student Eleanor Pugh has earned a Boren Scholarship to study abroad in Kazakhstan.

The Boren Awards program funds the intensive study of language and culture abroad for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students. Scholars have the option to either apply for a Regional Flagship Language Initiative or select/design their own study program.

“I am truly honored to receive a Boren Scholarship and thrilled to have the opportunity to study in Kazakhstan,” Pugh said. “I am extremely grateful for the mentorship and support I have received from my professors, as well as the many opportunities I have had as an MSU student.”

Pugh is an Honors College second-year student majoring in international relations in James Madison College and Russian in the College of Arts and Letters, with minors in Russian and Eurasian studies, Muslim studies, and economics.

“Eleanor has embraced opportunities through her coursework, the Honors College, and the Distinguished Student Awards Office to develop into a Boren Scholar,” said MSU Honors College Interim Dean Glenn Chambers.

“Her academic achievements and international expertise showcase the strengths of MSU as a leader in global education and undergraduate research,” Chambers said.

Embracing Transformative Research

At Michigan State, Pugh’s extensive research experience has included a professorial assistantship from the Honors College with Professor Eric Freedman. This paid opportunity allows students to work closely with members of the MSU faculty on their scholarly research. Pugh has also held research assistantships with Professor Sherman Garnett and Professor Norman Graham.

“Eleanor Pugh is a superb student with an amazing range across disciplines and yet wonderful intensity in everything she studies,” Graham said. “The Boren Scholarship will enable her to perfect her excellent Russian while providing opportunities to pursue her broader interest in the region.”

Pugh is also a part of the Social Science Scholars Program, in which a small cohort of students works closely with faculty to conduct independent research and take distinct courses on social science topics.

“I have never taught anyone who can match Eleanor Pugh’s ability to grasp the languages, history, culture, and geopolitics of important global regions,” said Professor John Waller, Director of the Social Science Scholars Program.

A Penchant for Foreign Policy

Pugh has extensively researched and worked in foreign policy. In 2024, she was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship to study Azerbaijani in Baku, where she also virtually interned with the U.S. Embassy. Pugh also received a grant from the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund to co-lead a space science camp in Son-Kul, Kyrgyzstan in 2024. Through MSU Model United Nations, Pugh served as a chair of a committee on Kyrgyzstan’s 2010 revolution.

Pugh is currently interning at the American Foreign Policy Council and will be participating in the Kissinger Summer Academy on nuclear weapons and grand strategy at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies this summer.

Waller further elaborated on Pugh’s extensive experiences.

“Here are just a few of the accomplishments for which Eleanor won a coveted Boren Scholarship: spending six weeks aged 17 studying Russian in Kyrgyzstan; an internship compiling media reports for U.S. Embassy officials in Azerbaijan; co-leading an educational camp for semi-nomadic children in a remote region of Kyrgyzstan; participating in research with MSU faculty on issues as varied as Sino-Kazakh water sharing and Russian nuclear policy; winning the Gliozzo Scholarship for Muslim studies, the highest award for Muslim studies students at MSU; attending the Kissinger Summer Academy at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies on nuclear policy; and a current internship with the American Foreign Policy Council’s Russia & Ukraine Program and its Central Asia and the Caucasus Initiative,” Waller said.

“This quite staggering level of learning and dedication will see Eleanor soon become an invaluable U.S. advisor on security for this critical global region,” said Waller.

“Eleanor is so deserving of this award and has worked very hard to get to this point,” said Assistant Dean and Director of the MSU Distinguished Student Awards Office Kristin Janka, who serves as the university’s campus representative for the Boren Scholarship.

Before her time at MSU, Pugh attended Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md.

Please contact Melanie Brender at brenderm@msu.edu for media inquiries on this story.