Contact: Sammy McDavid
A 1997 Mississippi State University graduate now teaching in Columbus is a 2001 James Madison Memorial Fellow.
Brandi W. Bishop is among more than 60 individuals selected to receive up to $24,000 for graduate study leading to a master's degree.
Awarded for the past 10 years by the Madison Fellowship Foundation in Washington, D.C., the awards are the official national tribute to the fourth president of the United States and acknowledged "Father of the Constitution and Bill of Rights." Recipients may either be currently enrolled students pursuing bachelor's degrees or those who recently graduated.
Bishop, who holds a bachelor's degree in political science, is a kindergarten teacher at the Columbus Christian School. She plans to seek a master's in political science at MSU.
As an undergraduate, she received the College of Arts and Sciences' Garner Scholarship. In addition to being active in the Mississippi Model Security Council, she also served on the Division of Student Affairs' Judicial Board and MSU Student Association's elections commission.
In pursuing an advanced degree, Bishop will be expected to take a substantial number of courses on the origins and development of the Constitution, the evolution of political theory and constitutional law, the Constitution's effects on society and culture, or related topics.
Also as part of the Madison Fellowship program, she will attend a four-week Summer Institute on the Constitution at Washington's Georgetown University. She and other members of this year's class also will visit sites in and around Washington associated with the Constitution.