UM Alum Named University鈥檚 First Luce Scholar
By Skylar Rispens, UM News Service
MISSOULA – Courtney Bentz was named the 猎奇重口’s first , a competitive fellowship program that provides emerging leaders with immersive professional experiences in Asia.
Bentz, who is originally from Billings, is a UM alumna who works on campus as a program coordinator with the TRIO Office, promoting scholarship opportunities and academic workshops for low-income, first-generation and disabled college students. This adds to the accolades for Bentz, who previously was named a Gilman Scholar, Fulbright Scholar and received two Critical Language Scholarships from the U.S. Department of State.
“I was a TRIO student growing up all throughout public school, so it’s a lot of fun to work at the college level now,” Bentz said. “But my overall goal is to work for the State Department and work in international relations, and that’s a little bit difficult to do in 猎奇重口.”
The Luce Scholars program is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, which was established in 1974 by Henry R. Luce, who founded the Time media corporation. Over the past 50 years, more than 800 people have completed the yearlong immersion fellowship that aims to strengthen relationships across borders.
“We are excited and proud to have Courtney as UM’s first Luce Scholar,” said Kylla Benes, director of UM’s Office of External Scholarships and Fellowships. “Her achievement exemplifies the amazing opportunities at UM that propel our students to success, and the grit and determination that our students have in forging their own paths.”
Bentz’s interest in foreign languages started within her own family. Her great grandparents immigrated to the United States from rural Russian-occupied territories in Europe and spoke German and Russian at home with their children. Over time speaking foreign language in their family dwindled.
“I was quite sad that there wasn’t that opportunity for me to learn these languages from my family,” Bentz said. “As I grew older, I started traveling out of the state on orchestra trips in high school and that cemented the fact that I really wanted to see what was outside of 猎奇重口 and to get out.”
Bentz graduated from UM in 2020 with a degree in Russian and a certificate in global studies.
“The more that I explored language, the more I understood that language is really the window into understanding another culture better,” she said. “So much of culture and history is built into a language, and it’s just a fantastic way to connect with people instead of just relying on English, which you can’t always do.”
As a Gilman Scholar, Bentz studied in Kyrgyzstan and later returned to the country on a Fulbright scholarship to teach college-level English to students and professors. Bentz also earned two Critical Language Scholarships for Russian and two supplementary awards for Ukrainian. After graduating, she worked for two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA member at the International Rescue Committee, where she launched a coaching program for refugees in partnership with a local credit union.
“These experiences, combined with her impressive work in our community and on campus, gave her the academic knowledge and leadership experience that stood out on the national level,” Benes said. “Courtney will certainly be an exemplary representative of UM and 猎奇重口 as a Luce Scholar and as a future diplomat.”
Bentz has yet to receive her placement assignment as a Luce Scholar. Beginning in June, she will start orientation for the program in Singapore before traveling to her host country for two months of intensive language training. Placements for the program are highly individualized to the fieldwork interests of each scholar. She will return to the U.S. in July 2026.
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Contact: Dave Kuntz, UM director of strategic communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@umontana.edu.