University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumna Brittney Nadler recently was awarded a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship. Funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Howard University, the Pickering Fellowship supports individuals who seek careers in the State Department’s Foreign Service.

Nadler was among 45 awardees selected from nearly 900 applicants. The fellowship will fund a two-year master’s degree in an area of relevance to the Foreign Service. It also will provide extensive professional development opportunities including internships, mentoring and skills training. Nadler will complete a summer internship at the State Department in 2024 and an overseas internship at a U.S. embassy or consulate in summer 2025. Upon successful completion of the program, Nadler will become a U.S. diplomat.

Born in Park Ridge, Illinois, and raised in South Elgin, Nadler served as a Fulbright English Teacher in Thailand from 2017-18, bringing 10 of her students to Malaysia for an international English camp focused on peace and conflict resolution. Nadler was an English Education Volunteer with the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone from 2019-20 before taking a position with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a project manager.

She graduated from Illinois in 2017 with James Scholar Honors and majors in global studies and Spanish.