Kayla Anthony
A recent graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, originally from Johnstown, has been selected for a Fulbright post-graduate study award.
Kayla Anthony, a 2011 IUP summa cum laude dual theater arts and French graduate, received the award to study heritage management at Queen Mary University of London. Her work will explore the use of technology in historic spaces in the United Kingdom through Queen Mary University of London’s partnership with historic royal palaces, which include the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, Banqueting House, and Hillsborough Castle. She will begin her Fulbright research in September.
Anthony is IUP’s twenty-first current student or recent graduate selected for a Fulbright Award since 1968. IUP faculty and staff have received 75 Fulbright scholarships since 1951.
Anthony’s application for the award was supported by IUP faculty members Michael Schwartz, Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance, and Francis Allard from the Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences.
“During my time at IUP, I received the Dr. Patrick A. Carone and the Rene Liscinsky Study Abroad scholarships to spend a semester at the Universite de Nancy II in Lorraine, France,” Anthony said.
“That experience shaped a large part of my identity and is ultimately what sparked my passion for the decorative arts and historic architecture. My eyes were opened to a wider world as I encountered another culture’s way of living and the French appreciation for heritage and history. The impact that experience had on the trajectory of my life was pivotal and key in my journey to obtaining this Fulbright award.
“I am immensely grateful and am looking forward to having a similar experience in London and applying what I learn to the historic sites in my care at PhilaLandmarks,” Anthony said.
“Kayla’s voice and goals were unique and inspiring from the start. She earned this opportunity,” Schwartz said.
“It was a pleasure working with Kayla, who was invariably receptive to suggestions regarding her application,” Allard said. “Her experience and proven success in the field of heritage management allowed her and the IUP committee to clearly envision how this Fulbright experience and exposure to the policies and methods adopted by the stewards of historic houses and palaces in England could benefit the heritage field in the United States.”
Anthony, a 2006 graduate of Central Cambria High School who now makes her home in Philadelphia, was named executive director of the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks (PhilaLandmarks) in 2019 after serving as the development and program manager from 2017 to 2019.
This organization is a 94-year-old private nonprofit that stewards four eighteenth-century historic house museums: the Powel House, Grumblethorpe, Hill-Physick House, and Historic Waynesborough. She will use her Fulbright research to inform her ongoing work at the Powel House.
Built in 1765, the Powel House is considered one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the United States; it was home to Samuel Powel and his wife, Elizabeth Willing Powel. Samuel Powel is often called the “Patriot Mayor,” serving as the last mayor under the British Crown and the first mayor in the new American republic. Elizabeth Willing Powel was an equally seminal figure in America’s founding, entertaining the political elite during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and became one of George Washington’s closest confidants before, during, and after his presidency.
Under her guidance as executive director of PhilaLandmarks, the institution has reinvigorated its commitment to increasing public understanding of history, including supporting historical scholarship, enhancing its education programs for young people, attending to critical and significant preservation work on the organization’s historic houses, and fostering new and existing community partnerships.
Since her IUP graduation, Anthony was selected for the 2023 New York Community Trust Edward Maverick Fund Scholarship to complete the prestigious Attingham Trust Summer School program, an intensive study of the English country house in the United Kingdom.
In March 2025, she was honored as a leading Woman of the 175th District by Pennsylvania Representative Mary Isaacson for her leadership and contributions to her community.
She has also appeared on C-SPAN to talk about Elizabeth Powel’s friendship with George Washington in partnership with George Washington’s Mount Vernon and can be seen in a lottery commercial or two from her days on screen as an actor. In addition, Anthony serves on the Union League Founding Forward Historic Preservation Committee and the Program Committee of the Acorn Club of Philadelphia and is a member of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America and SAG/AFTRA.
Anthony is the daughter of Dave and Carla Grasser of Johnstown. At IUP, Anthony was president of the French Club and was in several theater productions.
Fulbright Scholar Awards are competitive fellowships that provide unique opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbright scholars also play a critical role in US public diplomacy, establishing long-term relationships between people and nations.
Alumni of the Fulbright Program include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders and world-renowned experts in academia and many other fields across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.