Watertown's Katelin Richter Awarded U.S. Fulbright Research Grant to Germany

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Watertown's Katelin Richter has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program research/study grant.

APPLETON, WIS. (05/29/2012)(readMedia)-- Securing a good job offer in a challenging economy is tough. But when the Fulbright U.S. Student Program made Watertown's Katelin Richter an offer she couldn't refuse, she decided to put her first post-college job on hold.

A senior at Lawrence University who will graduate June 10, Richter was awarded a study/research grant that will send her to Germany, where she will begin an orchestra management master's program in either Frankfurt or Munich at a university still to be determined. The Fulbright grant will cover her transportation to and from Germany, her university tuition and provide a monthly living stipend for the 2007 graduate of Watertown-Mayer High School.

During the 11-month grant period, Richter will pursue research on financial innovation in the nonprofit symphony orchestra sector in Germany, with a focus on strategies potentially adoptable for American orchestras.

"I'm interested in orchestra management and today symphonies across the world are facing structural financial challenges," said Richter, the daughter of Dave and Cathy Richter, Watertown. "Germany has a long cultural history of orchestras, which presents a unique environment in which to do my research. German orchestras in general receive more state support than American orchestras, but state support there is becoming less certain. I'm interested in investigating how German orchestras are meeting current financial challenges and whether there might be the opportunity to synthesize cross-cultural knowledge of benefit to orchestras both in the U.S. and abroad."

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Richter, an oboist in the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, is no stranger to Germany. In addition to having visited relatives who live there, she spent the summer of 2010 on a Lawrence-sponsored internship, promoting a 120-concert classical music festival throughout the state of Mecklenberg-Vorpommern. She returned to Germany last summer on an internship through the U.S. State Department, working in the Political-Economics Section of the U.S. Consulate in Munich.

Before her Fulbright letter arrived, Richter was planning on starting a consulting job with Deloitte in Washington, D.C. She accepted the Fulbright grant with the blessing of Deloitte, which generously agreed to defer her job offer until she returns in 2013.

Beyond the stress of preparing for her college graduation and a year abroad, Richter is also planning a wedding. She and her fiancé, David Davis, a 2011 Lawrence graduate, are scheduled to be married Aug. 3, 2013, just 17 days after she returns from Germany.

"They are all really good things, but when they happen all at once, it can be overwhelming," said Richter, who will graduate from Lawrence with both a bachelor of arts degree in German and a bachelor of music degree in oboe performance. "Winning the Fulbright grant was both surprising and stressful. I'll be gone for almost a year right before my wedding.

"Needless to say, I'll be doing a lot of planning this summer," she added.

Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 300,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, education, and athletics. Forty Fulbright alumni from 11 countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize, and 75 alumni have received Pulitzer Prizes.

AboutLawrence University

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