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University of North Georgia (¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ) alumna Katherine Torres, '21, was the school's honoree at the ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ's (USG) annual Academic Recognition Day held Feb. 8.

A student is selected from each of the USG's 26 public colleges and universities. Each student best represents the system's highest scholastic ideals, as selected by their individual institutions. These students have a high GPA, strive for excellence and have the ability to share knowledge in various areas of expertise.

Torres is a Fulbright U.S. Student Program participant who is teaching English in Taiwan for the 2021-22 academic year. In November, Torres became the first ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ alumna to win the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, the fellowship attracts and prepares outstanding young people for Foreign Service careers. She will receive up to $42,000 annually for a two-year period to complete a master's degree program and participate in two summer internships designed to support her in becoming an excellent Foreign Service Officer.

The Academic Recognition Day honorees receive a resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives, along with a letter of commendation from USG Acting Chancellor Teresa MacCartney.

In addition to the Pickering Fellowship and the Fulbright, Torres also earned the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship in fall 2019.

She also received a Boren Indonesian Flagship Language Program Scholarship in spring 2021, as well, before choosing to use the Fulbright instead. 

Torres represented ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ in the 2020-21 cohort of the Newman Civic Fellows.