After 6 years of helping Pitt students secure competitive scholarships, Lesha Greene has won her own

Lesha Greene found place and purpose through global education.

From Fulbright to Goldwater, the director of national scholarships for the David C. Frederick Honors College has made a successful career out of supporting Pitt students as they pursue some of the world’s most competitive awards.

“You can develop viewpoints and learn so much about yourself by going abroad that you might not get to through other opportunities,” said Greene, who joined the world-class roster of Fulbright scholars as a 2024 Fulbright International Education Administrators Award recipient.

Through the program, university administrators participate in a fully funded two-week seminar to study other countries’ education systems to expand their home institution’s capacity for international education and collaboration. Greene will be in Berlin at a public research university in October.

“It’s a great accomplishment, but I didn’t think it was something I would do,” she said. “However, when the opportunity was presented, I saw I would be furthering not only my knowledge and understanding of the German education system but of the culture, which would also benefit the students I serve.”

In addition to her roles in the Frederick Honors College and work as Pitt’s Fulbright program advisor, Greene works closely with the Department of German as the representative of Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), or the German Academic Exchange Service, an organization that funds study and research in Germany.

Though she has ventured there only once before, she commended the level and quality of hands-on, professional access and programming she’s seen exchange students in the nation receive.

“Germany is such an important country in how they support students,” she said.

Thanks to Greene, Sydney Wilhemy (A&S ’24) will also sample Germany’s rich history. The Lakewood, Ohio, native soon begins his two-year master’s program at the Hertie School, a leading European institution for governance and policy, to study international affairs and human rights.

Wilhemy worked with Greene for over a year on Fulbright and DAAD applications. He said her deep understanding of the programs helped instill confidence during the daunting process.

“With her help, I won the DAAD award, which is the main support for my master’s program, covering housing, food, health insurance, travel and more,” said the Fulbright semi-finalist. “This award opens doors for today and the rest of my life. Lesha is a truly special person.”

Senior neuroscience major and 2024 Goldwater Scholar Tofunmi Abiola praised Greene for helping students pull out the best in their personal narratives.

“Lesha has a way of helping you highlight unique qualities and experiences that one might feel are insignificant,” Abiola said. “When applying for the scholarship, I worried I wasn’t as competitive as other applicants because my involvement in research was limited to my time in college as opposed to high school, like most previous awardees. However, Lesha reassured me that it wasn’t solely a numbers game. I likely would not have completed the application without her support early in the process.”

Broadening global education opportunities

Hailing from the two-island Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, Greene arrived in the U.S. in 2000 as a student on an F1 visa. She received a bachelor’s degree in English with a French minor from Hunter College before pursuing a master’s in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College.

After graduating in 2006, she opted to remain in New York, working at the Open Society Foundations (OSF), a U.S.-based grantmaking organization that supports students and faculty globally through scholarship programs. Fifteen years at OSF took Greene to Tajikistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Jordan and beyond.

But after starting a family, she decided it was time for a change.

“Pittsburgh was on my list of cities to move to because I had this international higher education background and had partnered with many U.S. universities in the past, including Pitt,” Greene said. “It seemed like a good place to land with a reasonable cost of living, so we moved here without having any friends or family, sight unseen.”

In 2018, she landed a role in the Graduate School of Public Health before pivoting to the Frederick Honors College and then applying for her current position in 2022.

“I thought it would be a good use of my experience and a way for me to continue supporting students, having previously and almost exclusively worked with international students and faculty. I would go from helping students from abroad come to the U.S., to the opposite, helping U.S. students pursue international opportunities.”

From her time in Germany for the Fulbright seminar, Greene wants to bolster Pitt’s ongoing partnerships with European institutions. She hopes the program will help her “forge more pathways for students to go abroad that may not necessarily involve a prestigious award and bring more German students here.”

But above all else, she wants to continue learning.

“Hopefully, we never stop learning. I am excited to continue learning because it leads to growth, and I take it upon myself to promote global education and support students because it is life-changing.”

Photography courtesy of Lala Yeags Photography