A Nebraska Wesleyan University senior with a rare combination of interests and skills has secured an opportunity nearly as rare.
Katie Barta, a chemistry major with minors in art and math from Fort Calhoun, Neb., has been awarded the prestigious Freeman Award for Study in Asia (Freeman-ASIA). The award program, sponsored by the Honolulu-based Freeman Foundation, aims to strengthen bonds between the United States and East Asia.
Barta will use the scholarship to help fund her fall 2025 ISEP Exchange semester at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.
Her career goals involve blending chemistry with aesthetics, said Sarah Barr, NWU’s director of global engagement. “She’s a future chemical engineer with plans to work in the cosmetic industry.” Barr supported Barta throughout the scholarship application process.
Barta’s Freeman-ASIA Award marks Nebraska Wesleyan’s second in as many years. Cece Nguyen also studied in South Korea on a Freeman-ASIA scholarship last fall. Barta becomes NWU’s ninth Freeman recipient since the award’s inception in 2001.
Previous NWU Freeman-ASIA scholars have studied in China, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.