Two N.C. A&T Alumni Selected as 2024-25 Fulbright Program Grant Semifinalists

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Oct. 2, 2024) — Two North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University alumni have been selected as semifinalists for the 2024-25 Fulbright Program grant year. 

Maya Odom and Malachi Williams were selected as semifinalists from a pool of more than 10,000 applicants nationwide. Both graduated as members of the Honors College. 

Odom, from Crofton, Maryland and daughter of Martin Odom and Nicole Odom, graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in computer engineering in May 2024. She came to N.C. A&T in fall 2020 as a recipient of the Cheatham-White Scholarship, one of the university’s top merit-based four-year full ride scholarships, and was selected last year as part of the historic Aggie cohort of 2023 Astronaut Scholars. While at A&T, Odom pushed the bounds of innovation with her participation in university hack-a-thons and the Disney on the Yard Innovation Challenge. She was also selected in the first cohort of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s pipeline internship after interning with Chevron; interned with Disney and Amazon; was an Honors College ambassador; and studied abroad in spring 2023 in Nicosia, Cyprus. For her Fulbright Program grant application, she sought a study/research grant to earn a master’s degree in technology and innovation management from the Technical University of Crete in Greece.  

“I learned more about myself through this process. I had to dive deep and figure out what was driving me and, although I didn’t get the grant, I used the lessons learned to help propel myself in my current career path,” said Odom. 

Williams, from Chicago, Illinois, and son of Laticia Rhone and Reginald Michel, graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in biology in May 2024 after transferring to A&T in fall 2021. As an undergraduate student, Williams volunteered at the Aggie Source Food Pantry, facilitated the N.C. A&T Dowdy Outreach Program and served as a community service committee advisor for Aggie Men. A certified nursing assistant (CNA), he received the Hudson and Holland Scholars award and the J.B. Howroyd Scholarship, and served in Greensboro’s first annual Black Men in White Coats Youth Summit. He interned at the University of Utah in the BRIDGE-UP medical research internship program last summer. For his Fulbright Program grant application, he sought a study/research grant in Spain to continue his HIV-1 eradication research at the AIDS Research Institute in Barcelona. He is A&T’s first male-identifying semifinalist since at least spring 2019; national records show he may be the first since Emmanuel Johnson Dorley became A&T’s first Fulbright Program grantee in spring 2013. 

“My journey at North Carolina A&T State University has been instrumental in preparing me to apply for the Fulbright Program grant,” said Williams. “N.C. A&T Extraordinary Opportunities (NCAT EO) and the Honors College have encouraged me to pursue both this prestigious national program and all my endeavors.”  

The rigorous and required endorsement process for the 2023-24 application cycle was conducted through Alsace-Lorraine Gallop, A&T’s national scholarships and fellowships coordinator with NCAT Extraordinary Opportunities, with support from faculty and staff who provided application feedback. 

“Maya and Malachi represent the best of A&T — they are leaders who have engaged with communities all over the nation and world in their quest to better humankind with their intellectual gifts,” said Gallop. “More importantly, Maya and Malachi know how to listen to and learn from others of diverse thoughts and cultures.” 

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. Its mission is to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through cultural engagement. 

The program, led by the U.S. government in partnership with more than 160 countries, annually awards grants that cover basic travel and living expenses and provide stipends and other benefits. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support. 

Alumni candidates, along with their recommenders, who have strong proposals and missed the Aug. 13, 2024, campus deadline should email Gallop at acgallop@ncat.edu immediately for final tips before the national submission deadline of 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.