Alumna Creates Travel Fund for Graduate Students

Creating a scholarship is something Nan Wilson Wilkenfeld ‘14 has wanted to do for years. Scholarships helped her pay for her education, giving her access to new experiences, including traveling to a national conference as a graduate student.

Thanks to her perseverance and generosity, the Nan Wilson Wilkenfeld Communication Studies Graduate Travel Scholarship was created in 2017. The scholarship provides funding for UNC Charlotte graduate students in communication studies to travel for academic conferences, data collection and study abroad opportunities.

“Coursework and internal forums are great,” said Wilkenfeld. “But, I definitely believe that making the connection with other programs, students and faculty through external experiences like conferences and study abroad is vital for a well-rounded graduate education.”

Wilkenfeld chose to make her gift to communication studies because the program had a major impact on her. She received her master’s degree from the program, along with an MBA from the Belk College of Business in 2014. The courses she took not only broadened her horizons, but also challenged her ways of thinking. Wilkenfeld also credits the faculty and staff with creating an environment in which students can flourish and reach their full potential.

As part of her graduate studies, Wilkenfeld was competitively selected to study abroad for a semester at Zeppelin University in Germany and also traveled to the National Communication Association Conference.  These experiences opened her eyes to how broad and rich the topics within the communication studies field were.

“It was really fun and cool to get connected to the broader community,” said Wilkenfeld. “I hope other students, through travel opportunities, can take away a new perspective and appreciation of this great field, learn new things, and meet new people as I did. “

Since graduating, Wilkenfeld has taught business communication classes for the communication studies department and been involved with the Faculty Learning Community for adjunct and part-time faculty, as well as the Communication Across the Curriculum program for Belk College students.

In addition to her work on campus, Wilkenfeld also serves as president of Wilkenfeld Consulting, a business development, team-building, and leadership development consulting organization in Charlotte.