Andrea Orzoff, an associate professor of history at New Mexico State University, has been appointed to lead the university’s Office of National Scholarship and International Education.
The office, housed in the William Conroy Honors College, serves the NMSU community by providing guidance and support to undergraduate and graduate students seeking nominations to highly competitive national and international scholarship and fellowship programs. These programs include Fulbright and Boren scholarships.
Orzoff will also provide leadership for the Honors College’s efforts to promote international activities for Crimson Scholars and other motivated students looking to develop their capacity as global citizens, said Honors College Dean Phame Camarena.
“As a past recipient of these international awards herself, Orzoff understands both the challenges of creating a competitive application and how transformative the opportunities they provide can be,” Camarena said.
He said Orzoff has worked closely with the office in recent years and is well positioned to step in and build off of its history of success.
“Every time a NMSU student receives a Fulbright or similar award to develop their capacity as a professional and cultural ambassador, it is a powerful reminder of how exceptional our students can be and helps build the academic reputation of our campus,” Camarena said. “While we are committed to preparing students to serve the state of New Mexico, having a global perspective and international experiences ensures that our students can also be world change agents for the greater good.”
Orzoff has held multiple national and international research fellowships, most recently a Botstiber Foundation Fellowship, a Fulbright Global Scholar Award (to Germany, Peru, and Mexico), and fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Center for Advanced Study at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. She also serves as the U.S. Fulbright Program’s faculty liaison at NMSU.
Orzoff is the author of “Battle for the Castle: The Myth of Czechoslovakia in Europe, 1914-1948,” published by Oxford University Press, and various academic articles on the history of ideas, nationalism, propaganda and international organizations. Her current book project, “Music in Flight: Refugees, Exiles, Fugitives, and the Politics of Music in Latin America,” tells the stories of European classical musicians who fled Nazism for refuge in Latin America.
Orzoff plans to expand the office’s list of sponsored competitions to include the Rangel and Payne International Affairs Programs, which help students prepare for careers in the Foreign Service, and eventually the Mitchell, Marshall, Gates-Cambridge and Churchill Scholarships, which offer opportunities for graduate study in the United Kingdom. Orzoff will also provide leadership for the Honors College’s efforts to promote international activities for Crimson Scholars and other motivated students looking to develop their capacity as global citizens.
“NMSU students have so much to offer the United States and the world. My own international experiences have changed my life, and I am eager to see how my students’ lives are reshaped by these international awards,” said Orzoff. “I am honored to have the opportunity to continue ONSIE’s good work. I look forward to my collaboration with Dean Camarena and Associate Dean (Anne) Hubbell to shape the Honors College’s approach to international education.”