Five Cadets Named Fulbright Scholars

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Five cadets from the U.S. Military Academy have been selected for the Fulbright Program. The Fulbright Program was established over 75 years ago and is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program, partnering with participating governments, host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the U.S.

“The Fulbright Scholarship provides our scholars with the opportunity to build strong relationships with our allies while studying important topics for our Army and Nation. Congratulations to our newest Fulbright scholars,” said U.S. Military Academy Dean of the Academic Board Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves.

About the Scholars

Cadet Reed Bauer is a double-major in international affairs and Chinese from Pottstown, Pa. Bauer focused his work on democratic resiliency and backsliding. His work, An Apathetic Public, was recently published in the West Point Journal of Politics and Security and presented at the 2021 Joint Service Academy Mass Atrocity Prevention Symposium. Bauer focused his work in Chinese affairs for the U.S. military. He served as a translator at the U.S.-China Disaster Management Exchange and pioneered a program for cadets to do independent studies in Taiwan. In the summer of 2021, Bauer served as an intern for the Joint Chiefs of Staff strategy and planning, Asia division, where he worked on policy papers for senior army leaders and represented the Joint Staff in meetings with the White House. Outside of the classroom, Bauer served as the assistant cadet in charge of the Chinese Language Forum, an annual competitor in the West Point’s Military Skills Sandhurst competition, and as a delegate at the student conference on United States affairs. Upon graduation, Bauer will branch Infantry before transitioning to Military Intelligence.

Cadet William Frangia is an engineering psychology major and terrorism studies minor from Cochranville, Pa. He has interned at the National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency, supported faculty research within the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and has published his own article titled, “The Relationship Between Islam and Terrorism in Southeast Asia: Challenging Generalizations and Islamophobia by Analyzing Trends of Terrorism.” Frangia is the president of the Latter-day Saint Student Association, the Information Systems Officer for his company, a member of the men’s volleyball team, and serves as the assistant director of mentorship for the Small Hill Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps to change the lives of people in Southeast Asia by providing scholarships, mentorship, and resources to allow for increased access to higher education. Frangia will pursue a Master of Strategic Studies (advanced) at the Australian National University focused on strengthening underdeveloped communities against radicalization. Upon graduation, he will serve as a Military Intelligence officer.

Cadet Kristina Hughes is a mechanical engineering major from State College, Pa. She is the cadet-in-charge of Commission for Christ, a religious group that fosters the education and fellowship of West Point’s Catholic community. Hughes currently serves as the Command Sgt. Maj. for her battalion, is a member of the Tau Beta Phi Honors Society, and is the recipient of the Outstanding Women’s Boxer Award for her win against Air Force. Her desire to solve humanitarian crises with engineering solutions led to her three undergraduate publications. She addressed the problems plaguing aeromedical evacuations, data collection from satellites tracking changes in climate patterns, and aerial resupply in austere environments. She is working to apply methods of controls and modeling to improve infrastructural development following humanitarian crises. Hughes will pursue a degree in Humanitarian Engineering with Sustainability at the University of Warwick and further develop ways to provide stability to disaster-ridden areas and populations. As a future Army aviator, she hopes to combine her technical expertise with her desire to serve disadvantaged populations by acting as a conduit for military assistance and humanitarian aid.

Cadet Adam Johantges is a geospatial information science major from Liberty Township, Ohio. His interest in mapping and exploring the cosmos has led to undergraduate publications for environmental, geoscience, and planetary science conferences. As a Stamps Scholar and cadet-in-charge of the French Forum, he studied abroad at the Université Catholique de Lille in France, and was an exchange student at École Nationale de Formation des Officers de Mandilou in Gabon. He is pursuing a master’s thesis in geological sciences at the Institut fur Planetologie at the University of Münster in Germany– a program that works in tandem with Planetary Geologists at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. In this program, he will develop processes for subsurface ice detection through Mars analog studies in Svalbard, supporting application and interpretation of radar measurements. Additionally, Johantges will participate in European Space Agency’s PANGAEA program, a geological training program for current and future astronauts from numerous international space agencies. As a future army aviator, Joahntges hopes to combine geological expertise with flight training to work for NASA as an astronaut dedicated to human space exploration and international cooperation.  

Cadet Josiah Spain is a Chinese honors major from West Point, N.Y. Spain is fluent in Mandarin and has attended two intensive language studies to China, and two to Taiwan, including a semester abroad at Taiwan’s National Tsinghua University. Spain worked as an interpreter between the U.S. Army and the People’s Liberation Army in the 2019 U.S.-China Disaster Management Exchange in Hawaii. Spain’s current research examines how the Chinese Communist Party constructs a human rights discourse that seeks to displace liberal-democratic principles. While under the Fulbright grant at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, Taiwan’s premier university for the study of the humanities, Spain will be pursuing a master’s degree in Asia-Pacific studies. He plans to research the role of military academies in Taiwanese civil-military relations. Spain currently serves as a brigade assistant operations officer, and just finished his time as the executive officer of the West Point human rights lab, a cadet lead research group that seeks to understand and prevent human rights violations. After completing his graduate studies, Spain will attend the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course, Ranger school, and serve with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Please visit the Fulbright Scholar Program for more information.

About West Point:

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is a four-year, co-educational, federal, liberal arts college located 50 miles north of New York City. It was founded in 1802 as America's first college of engineering and continues today as the world’s premier leader-development institution, consistently ranked among top colleges in the country. Its mission remains constant—to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the U. S. Army. For more information, go to www.westpoint.edu.