Dear INTS community,

I am delighted to congratulate Olivia Fambrini, who has earned the Fall 2020 Outstanding Undergraduate Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences!

Olivia’s time at CU Denver has been truly outstanding, and she adds this award to many others she has earned, including the Erica Huss Memorial Scholarship for Global Citizenship, which funded her studies in New York City as she participated in an intensive summer program at the United Nations. She has earned multiple Dean’s List awards, as well as national honors via Sigma Iota Rho (the honors society for International Studies students), and program honors (via a thesis directed by Dr. Bassem Hassan). Olivia has focused her major studies on the Middle East region, with a thematic emphasis on Peace, Human Rights and Security. She earned certificates in both Immigration Studies and Middle Eastern Politics. Olivia has also given back to the CU Denver community in multiple ways: serving as a member of the CLAS Student Advisory Council to the CLAS Dean; serving as a member of the CLAS Council on Diversity and Inclusion; participating in the Interdisciplinary Exchange event, “Why Inclusive Classrooms Matter;” and routinely sharing events of interest with her International Studies classmates. Olivia has also given back to the wider community via internships with the Sun Valley Community Center and Kitchen, ECDC African Community Center of Denver, and the International Rescue Committee. She has undertaken multiple internship assignments with the International Rescue Committee, which led to a paid staff position as a Digital Literacy Specialist before graduating from CU Denver. She also served as a Summer Associate with AmeriCorp VISTA. Through CU Denver’s EUReCA! Undergraduate Research program, she has been able to spend the past year and a half leading and collaborating with faculty and student researchers to create an organization and online resource for students called “PeaceXchange.” This resource seeks to connect students across Colorado to professional and academic opportunities in the fields of International Studies, Political Science, and conflict resolution. She also serves as the CU Denver Chapter President of iGNiTE National, a national organization that seeks to teach young women about local, regional, national, and international political systems, and encourages them to become involved in politics in order to create lasting, effective change in their communities. Olivia will be incredibly missed by the International Studies program’s faculty, staff, and students, and the College has done well to honor Olivia with this richly-deserved award.

Sincerely,

Hamilton Bean, Ph.D.
Director, International Studies Program