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Among them are history, international studies, engineering and mathematics majors whose committment to research, leadership and service has resulted in some of the most competitive scholarships in the country.

Every so often, someone would tell Justine O. Schluntz that she should apply for a Rhodes Scholarship, one of the most nationally competitive awards for students.

Schluntz balked at first. Then, during the summer of 2008, she began seriously considering her application and the potential for research the award would provide. 

Last month, the University of Arizona master's student was named one of only 32 students in the country to receive the award, which provides an average of $50,000 annually. 

"This kind of validates my decision to come to Arizona over other schools," said Schluntz, who was an Honors College student and earned her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the UA in May. She is now working on a master's degree, also in mechanical engineering. 

Schluntz joins an elite group of UA students who have been awarded some of the country's most prestigious scholarships.  

"It shows that you can accomplish whatever you are capable of," said Schluntz, who will continue her studies and research at the UA during the spring. As part of the scholarship, she will transfer to England's University of Oxford in the fall, prior to completing her UA master's,  advancing immediately to pursuing a doctorate.

Most scholarship recipients at the UA have already begun their research, though a small number of students won't begin their investigations until the spring.

"What is unique among all of these students is that they have tapped into the very best of what this university has to offer," said Karna Walter, director of nationally competitive scholarships at the UA's Honors College.

"The best students here can compete with the best students anywhere," Walter said.

Other top award winners include Sarah Slye, a master's student in the Near Eastern Studies department, who received a Boren Fellowship. At the graduate level, Boren Fellows receive $30,000 to improve their language proficiency while abroad. Slye will investigate Chechen and Inguish history while abroad in Georgia. 

Arshed Al-Obeidi, an Honors College student who is majoring in mathematics and molecular and cellular biology, was named the recipient of a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship earlier this year.

Monique Adakai and Candace Begody, both members of the Navajo Nation, each received a Morris K. Udall Scholarship. Adakai is an environmental science major focusing on science and policy. Begody, a UA journalism major, is also completing coursework in American Indian Studies.

A dozen other UA students were named Fulbright Scholars this year. They include:

• Golsheed Bagheri, who earned a master's degree from the Near Eastern Studies program and was an Honors College student as a UA undergraduate, has received a teaching position in Jordan.
• Kerry L. Nicholson, a doctoral student studying natural resources, is working in India.
• Victoria Phaneuf, a graduate student in the School of Anthropology, is working in France studying the influence of North African cultural associations in France and ways people use such organizations to form identities and negotiate intergroup relations.
• Andrea Shaheen, a graduate student in the School of Music, is in Syria studying ethnomusicology.
• Sarah Trainer, a graduate student in the School of Anthropology, is in the United Arab Emirates, where she is studying health disparities among women.
• Max Mattern, an Honors College student who earned an international studies major, is in Egypt studying food security issues.
• Jasmine McBeath, a Honors College student who earned degrees in Spanish and ecology and evolutionary biology, received an English teaching assistantship and will travel to Brazil next year.
• Iris Postelnicu, who graduated from the Department of Classics and was an Honors College student, is in Romania studying the ways in which customs and values have changed since the fall of communism.
• Nicole DiSante, an Honors College student who graduated this year with a geography degree, will visit Brazil next year to study sustainability. 
• Sarah Detzer, a recent graduate of the Spanish and theatre arts programs, is studying in Portugal, focusing on a method of crafting tiles that originated in the country.

Another Fulbright Scholar, Rachel Hill, who earned her master's degree in landscape architecture in May, will study in Croatia.

While there, Hill will work with the geography department at the University of Zagreb and the Oikon Institute for Applied Ecology. Her research involves investigating ways farming and fishing communities that were once isolated can remain productive and true to their traditions in the face of urbanization.

Her nine-month fellowship gets kicked off in January, focusing on communities on the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea. Hill's investigation involves determining ways to integrate issues related to the environment, agriculture, heritage, tourism and development while developing strategies to assist the island communities.

The site, she said, has an "an ancient agricultural heritage that will be pressured to change or be lost once tourism and property development increase." Hill referenced a moratorium on development that has been enacted along the Croatian coastline. 

"The country halted development to work with the United Nations on an analysis of environmental, historic and cultural sites to be preserved," Hill said. "With this information a general master plan along the coast will hopefully shape how development will happen."

Another Fulbright Scholar, Alex Hidalgo, a graduate student in the history department, will leave for Mexico in January to conduct research for his doctoral dissertation, which centers on cartography in New Spain from the 1600s to the 1800s.

He began studying cartography in 2006, his first year in the doctoral program. While in Mexico, he will spend time in Mexico City and Oaxaca state.

"It was by chance that I found these things. It seemed like this topic was just very unique," he said. "There is not a lot of work that has been done by historians on these old maps."

Hidalgo approaches the maps as "cultural projects," investigating what they say about the people who produced them. He examines the materials and pigments used and also evaluates what knowledge was necessary to develop the maps.

"Mostly, I am using them as a way to examine how Amerindians and Spaniards were learning to communicate with each other across cultural barriers," Hidalgo said. 

Earning a Fulbright was fitting because Hidalgo needs to spend an extended amount of time in Mexico to examine maps and other historical documents.

"There are only a handful of grants that fund this type of work," said Hidalgo, who is also a graduate research assistant at the Arizona State Museum.

New Goldwater Scholars, Udall Scholars, Winston Churchill Foundation Scholars, Boren Scholars and Gates Cambridge Scholarship recipients will be named during the spring semester.

The UA has a strong chance of having additional students named to those scholarships, Walter said, adding that she is optimistic about this year and thinks UA students will do well.

Walter said the UA saw a record number of applicants for the Fulbright this year, noting that the average is 40 to 45 students. This year, 53 students applied and are waiting to hear about the status of their applications. Those students will begin learning whether they have earned a Fulgbright during the spring.

Walter also is encouraging other UA students and alumni to apply for scholarships.

"Top students exist here, and they just need to know about these scholarships," Walter said, adding that she works with a team of faculty and staff to aid UA students and alumni through the application process. 

"The one thing that distinguishes people who apply and those who do not is the courage to step forward," she said. "You have to take a risk and expect the process itself will be beneficial; winning will be gravy." 

Schluntz said despite the apprehensions she had before, she is glad to have taken the chance to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship.

Schluntz, whose area of focus is fluid dynamics, said she was particularly drawn to the University of Oxford because of the institution's Tidal Energy Research Group.

Also a member of the women's swimming and diving team, Schluntz said she also is proud to represent student-athletes and her department. 

"In looking at the personal statements and biographies of others who have won in the past, I didn't think there was a chance I could actually get in," said Schluntz, who conducts research alongside Jeff Jacobs, who heads the UA's aerospace and mechanical engineering department.

"I'm really lucky to have the support network of my team and my coaches," she said, adding that she drew great confidence from two swimmers in particular: Whitney Myers and Lacey Nymeyer, who both were named the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Woman of the Year.

"I was scared to get my hopes up, but also did my best," Schluntz said. 

"I looked at who I was when I first arrived at the UA, and the growth I've had. I realize so much has changed in four years," she said. "I can't imagine what is going to change in the next four years, but I'm excited about the change that I know is going to happen."