Former University of South Florida tennis player and current student assistant coach Lauren Shumate was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to teach in Serbia for the 2011-2012 school year.

Shumate competed on the courts for the Bulls from 2008-2010 after transferring from Purdue. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native graduated magna cum laude in December of 2010 with a degree in criminology and a minor in political science.

In the Fulbright Program, she will assist professors in teaching English at the university level and will conduct independent research for credit towards her Master's degree in political science at USF.

Of partial Serbian descent, Shumate speaks both languages fluently and will serve as a resource for conversation, vocabulary, reading and writing courses.  She will also be involved with some educational advising and outreach.

Upon return from the program, she plans to pursue a degree in either corporate or international law.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

The Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas and is sponsored by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

Approximately 300,000 American and international students, professors and educational administrators have participated in the program since its inception over sixty years ago. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. The program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.