UGA’s Natalie Navarrete named a 2023 Rhodes Scholar

University of Georgia student Natalie Navarrete was named a 2023 Rhodes Scholar this weekend, joining recipients from 64 countries around the world.

Navarrete’s achievement makes UGA one of only three public universities in the U.S., in addition to the nation’s service academies, to have a Rhodes recipient and the only institution in Georgia this year.

The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship award in the world. The 2023 Rhodes Scholars will begin their various courses of study as graduate students at the University of Oxford in October.

Navarrete is a current Morehead Honors College student and Foundation Fellow at UGA.

“The University of Georgia is incredibly proud of Natalie for this extraordinary achievement,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “Her success in being selected for one of the most competitive scholarships in the world is a testament to her tremendous talent and drive and to the world-class educational opportunities that UGA provides our students. I am confident she will continue to make important contributions to our society through her program at Oxford University and throughout her career.”

Navarrete, a Stamps Scholar from Boca Raton, Florida, is a senior in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public and International Affairs, majoring in international affairs, Russian and Spanish with a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

“I join the entire University of Georgia family in congratulating Natalie on her distinction as a Rhodes Scholar,” said S. Jack Hu, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “She joins an impressive number of UGA students selected for this prestigious honor, which speaks to the excellence of our academic programs. I also am grateful to the faculty and staff of the Morehead Honors College and across campus who supported her and helped make her success possible.”

At the University of Oxford, Navarrete plans to pursue a master’s degree in Russian and East European studies and expand her research, which explores how criminal organizations in Central Asia evolved their smuggling strategies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. She welcomes the challenge to move her Russian proficiency into a more academic realm, she said, after focusing on language skills meant for the professional world through the Russian Flagship Program at UGA.

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The Franklin College is very proud to be the co-academic home of this extraordinary UGA student. Congratulations, Natalie!