The impact of ITS development initiatives on the School and the University has been considerable. Not only have OU faculty been given increased opportunities to ply their skills abroad, and OU students been included in international projects, a steady stream of students and professionals have found their way to the OU campus.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

The first of the students earning MA degrees from Ohio University from the former Soviet Union occurred under support of the Voice of America with tuition scholarships awarded by Ohio University. The scholarships went to:

Gitana Lapinskaiete (Lithuania) TCOM 1993-1994
Nele Laanejarv (Estonia) TCOM 1994-95
Margus Hunt (Estonia) TCOM 1995-1996
Hondo Sinisalu (Estonia) TCOM 1996-1997

Beginning in 1996, the first of the FSA, Muskie, Mongolian, Ron Brown and Fulbright Fellows began to appear on the Ohio University campus from across the Eurasian region to study not just Telecommunications but Journalism, Economics, Business Administration, Environmental Studies and International Studies. Ohio University scholarships went to:

Pavel Butorin (Russia), TCOM 1996-1998
Kenul Gurbanova (Azerbaijan) JOUR 1997-1999
Renat Husainov (Kyrgyzstan) TCOM 1997-
Sona Panajian (Armenia) JOUR 1997-1999
Ilmar Raag (Estonia) TCOM 1997-1999
Olha Duranova (Ukraine) COMDEV 1999-2001
Artavazd Ghazaryan (Armenia) TCOM 1999-2000
Elena Midori (Moldova) MAIA 1999-2001
Olga Sydorovych (Russia), ENV. STUDIES 1998-2000
Yulia Volkhonovych (Ukraine) TCOM 1999-2001
Inna Birchenko (Russia), ENV. STUDIES 2000-2002
Leva Burneikaite (Lithuania) COMDEV 2000-2002
Svetlana Frolkina (Ukraine) ECON 2000-2002
Gohar Hovhannisyan (Armenia), ENV. STUDIES 2000-2002
Yuriy Nesterov (Russia?), ENV. STUDIES 2000-2002
Anna Onyshenko (Ukraine) ECON 2000-2002
Natalia Silantieva (Russia) JOUR 2000-2002
Ivan Vidyakin (Ukraine) TCOM 2000-2002
Aida Aidakyeva (Krygyzstan) TCOM 2001-2003
Oleksiy Barankevych (Russia) JOUR 2001-2003
Dmitry Danilin (Russia) COMDEV 2001-2003
David Gogichaishvili (Georgia) TCOM 2001-2003
Liliya Sereda (Ukaine) TCOM 2001-2003
Anna Talalaeva (Russia) TCOM 2001-
Inna Burchenko (Ukraine) ENV. STUDIES 2002-2004
Svetlana Frolkina (Ukraine) ECON 2002-2004
Dmytro Kolchynskyy (Ukraine) TCOM 2002-2003
Tatiana Kristenko (Ukraine) TCOM 2002-2004
Anna Omphchenko (Ukraine) ECON) 2002-2004
Tetyana Vorozhko (Ukraine) JOUR 2002-2004
Aybaniz Khudadatova (Azerbaijan) COMT 2003-2005
Natalia Matukhno (Russia) 2003-2005
Ayder Kertiev (Uzbekistan) TCOM 2004-2006
Andrei Gorbal (Ukraine) TCOM 2004-
Yakupmyrat Nurgeldyev (Turkmenistan) ECON 2004-2006
Andei Bekasov (Russia) ECON 2004-2006

The Mongolian Fellows were:

Javhlan Byamba (Mongolia) TCOM 1999-2001
Agar Bat-Orshikh (Mongolia) TCOM 2000-2002
Undrahbuyan Baasanjav (Mongolia) TCOM 2000-2002
(Undrah continues in a Ph.D. program in Telecommunications)

The Ron Brown Fellows were:

Predrag Bajovic (Bosnia) TCOM 2000-2002
Igor Matic (Croatia) COMDEV 2000-2002
Daniela Valenta (Bosnia) TCOM 2000-2002
Danjela Majstorovic (Bosnia) TCOM 2001-2003
Biljana Scekic (Montenegro) TCOM 2001-
Valentina Scekic (Montenegro) TCOM 2001-
Zoran Ergarac (Bosnia) TCOM 2003-2004
Adin Sadic (Bosnia) TCOM 2003-2005
Thanas Goga (Albania) TCOM 2004-2006
Rita Stankeviciute (Lithuania) 2004-2006

Ohio University’s early and continuing visibility in the region is the principal reason why Ohio University has been the favored destination for such students, and the fact that ITS Director Don Flournoy has served on the U.S. national interview, selection and placement committees of FSA/Muskie and Ron Brown Fellowship programs since 1993.

These prestigious fellowships, managed by the Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) of New York, the Institute of International Education of New York and the American Councils for International Education of Washington D.C., are designed to identify and place highly qualified young professionals from the region in Masters degree programs in the best American universities. More than 1,000 of these Fellows have been placed in the United States in Journalism, Mass Communication and Telecommunications alone. (One of these former Fellows, Mikhail Saakashvili, a law graduate of Columbia University in New York, was elected President of Georgia in January 2004.)