Nashville Man Named Outstanding Grad, Fulbright Scholar

Simeon Michelson of Nashville, Tennessee, won the Outstanding Senior Award from the Westmont College History Department during a special convocation April 22. His professors said: “Simeon Michelson of Nashville, Tennessee, will finish Westmont this semester with a major in history. Hailing from Tennessee, Simeon brought Southern charm to Westmont, with a winsomeness and warmth to match his intelligence. He worked very hard, setting a bar which his peers have often only been able to admire. He has done so in the face of a series of health challenges, which make his accomplishments even more remarkable. This summer, he will travel to North Africa to continue work on his Arabic as a recipient of the Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship.” Michelson, an Augustinian Scholar, graduated with honors from Westmont during Commencement on May 4.& Michelson won a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to teach in Azerbaijan from September 2024 to June 2025. He also received the Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship to study Arabic in Morocco this summer. After teaching and studying in Azerbaijan, he plans to pursue graduate studies in Middle Eastern history. “There is a gap in historical research on Eurasian countries,” he says. “Even though the Turkic language...