Robert Lang (left), who graduated with an MFA in creative writing this spring, and Mia Mangney, graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree, have been selected for a Fulbright U.S. Student Program. (Leslie L.J. Reilly/SDSU; Courtesy Photo)
Two recent San Diego State University graduates have been awarded 2025-26 Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships to engage in academic programs abroad this year and beyond.
Mia Mangney, a summa cum laude Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences graduate from the College of Health and Human Services, will work as an English teaching assistant in Mexico. She anchored her application on her bilingualism and the scientific methods of her speech language pathology coursework and research.
Robert Lang, who graduated in May from the Master of Fine Arts creative writing program in the College of Arts and Letters, will study in England. Lang put forward a novel community arts initiative to combat bias and support neurodivergent and other underrepresented communities. His goal is to help these populations produce art that represents their lived experiences, increasing awareness and understanding of the connection between the arts, neuroscience and behavior.
“The achievements of this year’s newly minted Fulbright Student Scholars are so impressive, and we are very proud that they have earned this highly competitive and prestigious honor,” said Cristina Alfaro, SDSU associate vice president of International Affairs. “Their stories are compelling. Both have bright futures ahead, and we are thrilled to be part of their journey.”
Here is a closer look at each Fulbright scholar, the program and how to apply for a scholarship:
Keen on Communication
As an eighth grader in Northern California, Mangney took Spanish to fulfill a graduation requirement. She ended up loving it.
“I am really big into communication, and I thought it was very cool to be able to access a group of people who I had never been able to communicate with before,” Mangney said.
Open the image full screen.Mia Mangney (left) graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, with a minor in Spanish. (Courtesy Photo)
At SDSU, she studied abroad for five months in Argentina, which reinforced her desire to work bilingually in her career. She joined Professor Giang Pham’s Bilingualism in Context Lab, where she works with bilingual children.
More recently, she started with the Bilingualism and Cognition Lab, which is recruiting older Spanish speakers for a research project on communication barriers.
Along the way, she was a supplemental instructional leader for psychology and a student athlete support services tutor for Spanish. She also earned SDSU’s University Seal for Biliteracy and Cultural Competence.
For Mangney, the teaching assistant Fulbright will give her deeper insights not only about the dialect and culture in Mexico but also about how native Spanish speakers acquire English. That context will help in her future career as a bilingual speech language pathologist, she said.
It also aligns with the goals of the College of Health and Human Services, said Dean Amy Bonomi.
“At CHHS, our college focus is developing students for compelling careers, particularly those that will make a significant impact in the community,” said Bonomi. “When I think about Mia’s work, the Fulbright award will allow her to fulfill our primary mission, which is to get students out in the world making a real difference.”
Open the image full screen.Robert Lang, who graduated with an MFA in creative writing this spring, is pursuing a Ph.D. at Loughborough University School of Design and Creative Arts in England. (Leslie L.J. Reilly)
Power of stories
Lang’s Fulbright will support him for up to three years while he is working on his Ph.D., said Yoshiko Higurashi, professor emerita of Japanese and SDSU advisor for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
“That is highly unusual,” said Higurashi, noting that most grants are for a year. “He has a very clear idea about what he wants to do.”
Lang took a roundabout path to creative arts. But he recognized the transformative power of writing at a young age. The son of an Egyptian immigrant mother, he felt disconnected from his classmates as a Middle Eastern kid post-9/11.
In grade school, he won a writing contest and read his essay during a school assembly. “I’ll never forget the words my teacher said afterwards: ‘Now they’ll see the real you,’” said Lang.
That moment planted a seed for storytelling. But Lang put writing aside to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology and entered the mental health field.
An encounter with a socially withdrawn trauma patient, however, changed Lang’s trajectory. He was working as an aide at a psychiatric hospital when staff brought in a new set of books. Upon seeing her favorite book, the patient, who couldn’t speak or feed herself, came alive recounting the stories and characters, at least for a time.
Remembering how critical storytelling had been in his life, Lang canceled plans to enter a behavioral neurosciences master’s program and instead enrolled in a community college English course, which eventually led him to join the SDSU Master of Fine Arts in creative writing program.
In England, Lang aims to collaborate with artists and art therapists to develop a curriculum for creative workshops for neurodivergent or other underrepresented groups. The Transformative Arts Institute’s goal is to create work that can be presented to the local community. For research, Lang will survey audiences to gauge their understanding of misrepresented populations before and after art events.
“Stories change lives,” said Lang. “As a writer, I embody that. As a student, I wish to bring that to communities that deserve to have their stories told with their own voices.”
"Robert’s journey with writing exemplifies the transformational connection between passion and engagement that drives our college,” College of Arts and Letters Dean Todd Butler said. "Having rediscovered his own voice, Robert’s storytelling and teaching now creates deep partnerships to help others find themselves and be powerfully heard.”
Cultural exchange
Funded primarily through the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Fulbright is the U.S. government’s flagship international education and cultural exchange program. Scholarships provide students with a fully funded year abroad to teach English, complete an independent study/research project or enroll in a graduate program.
About 2,000 students nationwide receive the competitive scholarships annually. While the State Department halted funding for Fulbright and other programs in February for review, the pause has been lifted and payments have now resumed, according to Fulbright.org.
Sixteen students and recent graduates with ties to SDSU applied for Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants this year. Nine were named semi-finalists. In addition to Mangney and Lang, Marina Godinez, a graduate in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, was designated an alternate for an English teaching assistant position in Albania.
The application window is now open for the next round of Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for the 2026-27 cycle, with submission deadlines for SDSU application advising coming up in August. A virtual information session is scheduled June 18. Registrations are submitted online. The Fulbright student program application deadline is Oct. 7.
The White House Office of Management and Budget has proposed a 92% cut in funding for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for fiscal 2026.
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