About Us

Staff

Dr. Sayandeb Basu
DirectorScholarship Portfolio: Goldwater Scholarship, Hollings Scholarship, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP), German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Research Internship in Science and Engineering (RISE), Fulbright U.K. Summer Institute Program (joint campus representation with Ms. Lauren Chambers), Rhodes Scholarship, Marshall Scholarship, Mitchell Scholarship and Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

Dr. Sayandeb Basu joined the Office of National Scholarships (ONS) as its new director in May 2016 from the University of the Pacific in California, where he was faculty in Physics and the Honors College. Dr. Basu is a theoretical physicist and has published on quantum physics, and on the physics of black holes for more than a decade. He experienced a global education, including in India, at the University of Cambridge UK, and at the University of California, Davis, where he obtained his Ph.D. Dr. Basu's passion is nurturing students to become architects of their personal academic and professional goals. He had a successful stint at the University of the Pacific as the chief STEM liaison for the office of fellowships; He combined his love of culture, language, international study experience and mentoring skills to help foster the cause for a campus culture where faculty, students, and peers joined forces to make student success a habit rather than a cliché. At the University of South Florida, he brings this enthusiasm and commitment to the ONS, to make his office one of the key hubs of achievement and intellectual accomplishments for USF students.

Ms. Lauren Chambers
Associate Director

Scholarship Portfolio: Fulbright U.S. Student Program, Fulbright U.K. Summer Institute Program (joint campus representation with Dr. Sayandeb Basu), and the Florida Gubernatorial Fellowship Program.

Ms. Chambers joined the Honors College in 2008, and the Office of National Scholarships in 2011. She is currently the Associate Director of the Office of National Scholarships (ONS), and the Fulbright Program Advisor (FPA) for USF. Ms. Chambers has lived in the Tampa Bay area for over 20 years and received her bachelor's degree in Public Relations and master's degree in Public Health from the University of Florida. She is a member of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors (NAFA) and has presented at NAFA conferences on the connection between appreciative advising and fellowships advising. Ms. Chambers published an article in the Journal of Appreciative Education titled "The Subtleties of Appreciative Advising: Expanding Practices Beyond the Conversation."


Ms. Lauren Roberts
Assistant Director

Scholarship Portfolio: Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, Freeman-ASIA, Fund for Education Abroad, and the Hollings Scholarship.

Ms. Roberts joined the Office of National Scholarships in October 2017 as National Scholarship Advisor for ONS and Education Abroad. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Biology from Denison University, and a graduate degree in Education with a concentration in College Student Affairs from University of South Florida. She studied abroad in Kenya and Tanzania as an undergraduate student, which fueled her desire to work in international education. Lauren is eager to help students have life-changing experiences.