Study abroad donors help Hokies see the world

Growing up in a small Virginia town, Kay Winzenried '72 never imagined a life of international travel.

But after graduating from Virginia Tech, the life she once thought out of reach became her reality — traveling for work and even living abroad for several years. A scholarship was pivotal for launching her education and setting her on this path.

Today, Winzenried is paying that gift forward. She and other alumni donors have created scholarships that help Virginia Tech students study abroad, expanding access to opportunities that can change the course of their lives.

“Living abroad and traveling the world has shown me how much we can learn from each other,” Winzenried said. “It helps students see themselves more clearly and appreciate the common values we all share. Helping students study abroad is incredibly fulfilling, knowing it can open their world just as it did mine.”

With a degree in clothing and textiles from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in business from San Francisco State University, Winzenried built two careers. She worked with Neiman Marcus for nearly two decades and later transitioned to international journalism in the wine and travel industry. Winzenried, who had a second home in Switzerland, has supported Virginia Tech’s programs there for nearly three decades.

Scholarships like hers complement Virginia Tech Advantage, the universitywide commitment to reducing financial barriers so more students can take part in transformational experiences such as study abroad, internships, and undergraduate research. Together, donor generosity and institutional investment ensure Hokies have access to opportunities that can shape their futures.

Theresa Johansson, who leads the Global Education Office in Outreach and International Affairs, said scholarships often make the difference between students dreaming about studying abroad and actually doing it.

“For many students, cost is the single greatest barrier,” Johansson said. “When donors step in to support scholarships, they’re not just helping with finances — they’re giving students access to experiences that can shape careers and change lives. Every gift opens a door.”

A first step toward understanding

Like Winzenried, Tom Sperry ’68 also grew up in a small town and couldn’t imagine what it was like to travel overseas — until he became one of Virginia Tech’s first students to study abroad for a semester.  

“I came back different,” said Sperry, who has already helped 10 students study abroad since he and his wife, Sandy, established their scholarship in 2022.

Living with a host family in Germany not only broadened his perspective, it gave him a lifelong belief in the power of cultural exchange. 

“I had a new appreciation for differences,” he said. “You learn the value of talking to people totally different than yourself.”

For Sperry, funding a scholarship is about more than supporting travel. It’s about fostering understanding in a complicated world.

“This is a divisive time in history, and misunderstanding fuels that,” he said. “When we study abroad, it helps us think less of ourselves and have more appreciation for everything going on all over the world. Helping students gain this perspective is my way of helping to make our world a better place.”

Carrying a legacy forward

Melissa Chiari ’93 sees that same impact in the reflections she receives from students supported by the Nyfeler Scholarship, endowed by her father, Jim Nyfeler.

“Reading the students’ reflections is honestly one of the best parts,” she said. “You see how much they’ve grown, how much they’ve discovered. It’s incredibly rewarding to know you’ve played a small part in that.”

Chiari knows the feeling firsthand. As one of the first students to study in southern Switzerland at Virginia Tech’s Center for European Studies and Architecture — now the Steger Center for International Scholarship — she experienced how transformative time abroad could be. 

The experience was so impactful that she and her husband later made study abroad a condition for supporting their daughters’ college tuition.

For Chiari, Winzenried, and Sperry, the act of giving has become a journey of its own. Their scholarships have not only opened doors for Hokies to experience the world — they’ve also deepened the donors’ own sense of purpose. Their philanthropy is extending Virginia Tech’s tradition of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) into a global context.

Scholarships that spark discovery

For students, those scholarships can be life-defining.

“Before going abroad, I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field, but I didn’t know what. Studying abroad, I found my passion,” said Hannah Hill, a senior in neuroscience who received the Nyfeler Scholarship to join the Presidential Global Scholars program at the Steger Center.  

Through research focused on preventive medicine and longevity, she discovered new passions that shaped her academic path. 

“At the beginning of my college career, I was struggling a little because I hadn’t found my passion and I didn’t know what direction I wanted to go in,” she said. “But studying abroad put new life into my academic journey. It showed me the person I want to be. I didn’t realize how much I needed this. Once I experienced it, though, it was obvious. It gave me exactly what I had been searching for.”

For Miru Yim, who is pursuing a graduate degree in agricultural and applied economics, the path to studying abroad began in an unlikely way — when her dog wandered into the Global Education Office on Prices Fork Road. 

“He went through the halls directly to the Global Education Office,” she said. “It was like he knew where he was going.”

There, she learned not only about study abroad opportunities, but also that the deadline for the Tom and Sandy Sperry Scholarship was the next day. Despite the tight turnaround, she applied — and was awarded. 

“It was extremely helpful, enabling me to do so much and lifting a bit of a burden financially,” she said.

Yim, who studied in South Africa, said the experience confirmed her career path in international development and agricultural economics. She worked on a community-led project with food security researcher Ozzie Abaye, professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and a longtime champion of study abroad.

“Going to South Africa with Dr. Abaye was perfect,” Yim said.  “This trip has had a huge impact on my academic path. Meeting with so many influential people in the field, having meaningful conversations with them, and working alongside each other gave me a stronger conviction in what I want to do with my life.”

Juliah Linzmeier, a senior architecture student, received the scholarship Winzenried established to study at the Steger Center. She said the scholarship helped ease financial anxiety.

“It really did help me not feel held back,” she said, adding that even partial support made a difference by reducing the long-term burden of student loans and allowing her to make the most of her time abroad.

Without the scholarship, she said, she might still have gone abroad — but would have missed many of the moments that became her favorite memories, including fulfilling a dream of traveling to southern France and exploring her heritage in Poland.

The joy of giving

For students like Hill, Yim, and Linzmeier, study abroad scholarships mean more than plane tickets or classroom lessons in another country.  The experiences they enable can spark passions, shape careers, and change lives.

And for donors like Winzenried, Sperry, and Chiari, supporting those journeys has been transformative in its own way. 

“It is hard to describe the feeling of contribution and gratitude of being able to help a student realize their dream of studying in another part of the world,” Winzenried said. “I am thrilled to help them gain these experiences that will propel them in their chosen fields and their lives.” 

Winzenried isn’t alone in feeling that sense of joy. 

“It was so awe-inspiring to see that there are so many different things that they wanted to learn and so many different things that they wanted to tap into (while abroad),” Chiari said. “You could tell they weren’t just going abroad to take classes. They were going to explore, to challenge themselves, to grow.”

To support study abroad scholarships, contact the Global Education Office at vtabroad@vt.edu or give directly online.