Michael Fernandez

Brumley Scholar

Michael Fernandez is a senior majoring in Economics and International Relations & Global Studies with a certificate in Applied Statistical Modeling. Since learning about the perverse effects of voluntourism from a high school trip to the Dominican Republic, he has pursued academic interests in U.S. foreign aid policy and international development project evaluation.

While studying abroad in Mexico City in Spring 2024, Michael’s Mexican foreign policy classes informed him on the need for more collaborative immigration policies between the U.S. and Mexican governments. As a Brumley Scholar, he aspires to learn how to advocate for data-driven foreign aid as means to fill both nations’ immigration policy gaps, especially amidst significant reductions in American international development spending. Michael plans to pull from his experience as a Boren Scholar to Tanzania, where he witnessed the impact of applying his Swahili language skills to create localized data collection surveys for Ubongo Learning’s last-mile distribution efforts.

On campus, Michael is involved in Liberal Arts Honors, International Affairs Society, Texas Students of East Africa, and the Refugee Student Mentor program. In his free time, Michael enjoys discussing theology, learning new dances, listening to music in different languages, recycling, and cooking vegetarian recipes.