2022 Saeeda Peermahomed Award Winner
Wisnu Agung Pradana is named 2022 recipient of the Saeeda Peermahomed Award
Wisnu Pradana, a doctoral candidate in the Mary Frances Early College of Education and a graduate teaching assistant is this year’s Saeeda Peermahomed Award recipient. The award is given annually by International Student Life to recognize outstanding international students.
Before arriving to UGA, Wisnu earned his Bachelor’s degree in English Education from Sanata Dharma University in Indonesia. In 2019, Wisnu received his Master of Education degree in TESOL and World Language Education from the University of Georgia. After obtaining his master’s degree, Wisnu is currently a Ph.D. candidate pursuing a degree in Language and Literacy Education where he currently has a 4.0. Wisnu has had several publications and manuscripts in scholarly peer-reviewed journals. He has also presented on several topics both here at UGA, where he presented at the UGA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion conference and in Indonesia where he presented on Paving Your Way to Study in the U.S.
In International Student Life, Wisnu has always advocated for international students, working towards ways to provide all students a sense of belonging and ways to make UGA a second home for many. Wisnu was instrumental in developing ISL programs like Language Labs, ISL Circles, and summer writing and presentation workshops for international students. His ability to excel scholarly while also maintaining several campus involvements and advocating for international students set Wisnu apart as the recipient of this year’s Saeeda Peermahomed Award.
Wisnu stated, “As an international student, I am deeply humbled for the award. Most importantly, I am honored to be the first Indonesian student to receive this award. You may or may not be able to imagine how meaningful this award is for me personally, and the Indonesian community at UGA. I can’t wait to see the flag of my beloved country featured among other flags on UGA website.”
Dr. Demetrius D. Smith, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, said that Wisnu is well-deserving of this year’s award.
“This year’s applicant pool was full of incredible international students. The committee was very impressed by Wisnu’s academic accomplishments as well as his involvement on the University of Georgia campus when it comes to sharing his scholarly work and working to provide resources and opportunities for international students”.
This year’s selection committee was comprised of Dr. Michele Howard, Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Dan Silk, UGA’s Chief of Police, and Robin Catmur-Smith, Director for Immigration Services.
The award is made possible by the Peermahomed Family and is given in memory of Saeeda Peermahomed. Saeeda was a University of Georgia student from India who was studying to obtain a master’s degree in journalism when she was killed in a tragic automobile accident in North Georgia in 1979. Saeeda was an outstanding international student who was active in international student organizations and promoted cross-cultural exchange. This award is given in Saeeda’s memory to honor the goals of inter-cultural exchange for which she stood.
Each year, all currently enrolled UGA international students are eligible to apply as long as they have a current GPA of 3.5 or better. Application details are made available in early February each year at isl.uga.edu.
International Student Life is one of the 19 departments within the Division of Student Affairs, and focuses its work on supporting UGA’s 2,700+ international students while also creating unique and educational opportunities for all UGA students to build skills related to intercultural competencies and cross-cultural understanding.