Fulbright Program

The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of grants for international educational exchange for scholars, educators, graduate students and professionals, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright. It operates in 144 countries.

History

“The Fulbright Commission aims to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship.” - Senator J. William Fulbright. [cite news |title=About Fulbright |publisher=US-UK Fulbright Commission |date=2003 |url=http://www.fulbright.co.uk/about/index.html |accessdate=2008-04-07] Created in the aftermath of the Second World War through the efforts of Senator J. William Fulbright, The Fulbright Program promotes peace and understanding through educational exchange. Senator Fulbright believed that this would be an essential vehicle for mutual understanding between individuals, institutions and future leaders.

Today, the Fulbright Program is one of the most prestigious awards programs worldwide, operating in 144 countries and with 51 commissions. More Fulbright alumni have won Nobel Prizes than those of any other academic programme, including two in 2002.

The US-UK Fulbright Commission was created by treaty on 22 September 1948, and since its inception has expanded its programme to include grants for study in a wide variety of fields. MBA awards, filmmaking, sports science, performing arts, science, politics, history, literature and dance to name a few. Since 1949, approximately 12,000 UK Nationals have studied in the US and 9,600 US Nationals in the UK on Fulbright Educational Exchanges out of 200,000 Fulbright alumni worldwide.

In 2003, a convoy carrying American diplomats and Fulbright officials was attacked in the Gaza Strip. Three American security contractors were killed and one diplomat wounded. Since that time, American officials aren't supposed to be in Gaza. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,382667,00.html FOXNews.com | Tony Blair Cancels Gaza Visit After Israeli Intel Uncovers Plot to Kill Him] ] [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE2DD173EF935A25753C1A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink 3 Americans Slain in Blast In Gaza Strip - New York Times ] ] In 2008, it was revealed that eight Palestinian Fulbright scholarship winners living in the Gaza Strip had been denied exit visas by Israel. [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-scholars31-2008may31,0,1451183.story Israel blocks Gaza students from studying abroad - Los Angeles Times ] ] [ [http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,,2283178,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront Gaza students lose scholarships after Israel refuses visas | Education | The Guardian ] ] Because of this, the Fulbright scholarships were initially withdrawn, but as of June 2, 2008, the grants had been reinstated with direct intervention of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/world/middleeast/02fulbright.html?ex=1370145600&en=e591ab32ad88c05e&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink State Dept. Reinstates Gaza Fulbright Grants - New York Times] ] In early August, the U.S. revoked three of the students' visas after taking a "closer and harder look." [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/127074]

The program

The programs were established to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills.

The Fulbright Program provides funds for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools abroad. The initial reach of this program had been primarily European countries, but now the program operates worldwide.

Administration and funding

The program is administered by 50 binational Fulbright commissions, US embassies, and cooperating organizations.

A Fulbright Commission is a foundation established abroad to co-sponsor and administer Fulbright grants locally. Unlike countries where Fulbright grants are paid by the U.S. Department of State, Commissions pay some or all of the scholarships.

Grants for recent B.A. graduates, graduate students and younger professionals are administered by the Institute of International Education. These grants are available for U.S. citizens with a bachelor's degree to study in other countries, and for citizens of other countries to do graduate study in the U.S. Grants for faculty and professionals, as well as grants for U.S. institutions wishing to host scholars from other countries, are administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. Grants for K-12 teachers and administrators are administered by the United States Department of Agriculture. Fulbright-Hays grants, including grants for doctoral and postdoctoral research, summer seminars abroad, and group projects abroad, are sponsored by the United States Department of Education.

The Program is funded by Congressional appropriations and funding provided by partner governments. The program also receives important in-kind and financial support from academic institutions, foundations, and the private sector. Fulbright grants for students, teachers, college faculty and professionals are sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State, governments in other countries, and the private sector. Fulbright-Hays grants for graduate students, teachers, and faculty are sponsored by the United States Department of Education.

Fulbright Prize

The J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding established in 1993 is awarded by the Fulbright Association to recognize individuals who have made extraordinary contributions toward bringing peoples, cultures, or nations to greater understanding of others.Fact|date=April 2007Fulbright Prize laureates include:
*Bill Clinton (2005)
*Colin Powell (2004)
*Fernando Henrique Cardoso (2003)
*Sadako Ogata (2002)
*Kofi Annan (2001)
*Martti Ahtisaari (2000)
*Mary Robinson (1999)
*Patricio Aylwin Azócar (1998)
*Václav Havel (1997)
*Corazon Aquino (1996)
*Franz Vranitzky (1995)
*Jimmy Carter (1994)
*Nelson Mandela (1993)

Fulbright alumni

Fulbright alumni associations exist in 71 countries around the world [ [http://www.fulbright.org/gfn/assoc.htm Fulbright Alumni Organizations Worldwide] ] . In the U.S., the Fulbright Association [ [http://www.fulbright.org Fulbright Association] ] counts over 9,000 members.

Notable alumni

The following are particularly notable: [cite web|url=http://www.fulbright.org/press_release/030907.htm |title=Fulbright Alumni Craig R. Barrett, John Hope Franklin, and Shirley Strum Kenny Receive Lifetime Achievement Medals]

*Arlene Alda, children’s book author and photographer
*Nancy C. Andreasen, recipient of the National Medal of Science in 2000
*Sima Avramovic, Serbian legal academic
*Ivar A. Bjørgen, professor in psychology, NTNU
*Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel Corporation
*Frits Bolkestein, Dutch Politician and former EU Commissioner
*Amar Bose, MIT professor; founder of the Bose Corporation
*Steven Campbell, Scottish painter
*Barbara Knowles Debs, former president of Manhattanville College and the New York Historical Society
*Richard A. Debs, founding president of Morgan Stanley International
*Niels Diffrient, award-winning industrial designer
*William Durden, president of Dickinson College
*Adam J. Dziki, MD/ PHD Founder of Europacolon and Professor of Gastrointestinal Oncological Surgery at the Medical University of Lodz
*Charles Figley, president Green Cross academy of traumatology
*Christian Filippella, film director and writer
*Andrea Fitting, founder and CEO of Fitting Group, a challenger branding agency
*John Miles Foley, scholar of comparative Oral tradition
*John Hope Franklin, James B. Duke professor emeritus of history at Duke University and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
*Jonathan Franzen, novelist
*Jean-Pierre Garnier, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline
*Milton Glaser, graphic designer
*George J. Graham, Jr., political theorist
*John M. Granville, United States Agency for International Development diplomat assassinated in Sudan
*Rita E. Hauser, president of the Hauser Foundation
*Joseph Heller, author
*Alex Kahn, pageant performance artist
*Shirley Strum Kenny, president of Stony Brook University
*H.T. Kirby-Smith, author and poet
*Harry Klagsbrun, Senior partner of EQT
*S.M. Krishna, visionary and former chief minister of Karnataka, India
*Laila Lalami, author and essayist
*Ben Lerner, poet
*John Lithgow, actor
*Alvin Lucier, composer of experimental music
*Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan
*Dolph Lundgren, actor
*Reinhard H Luthin, historian and author
*Walter F. MacConaway, biographer of explorer James Michael Prescott
*John Mendelsohn, president of the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
*Loretta Napoleoni, economist, author, journalist and political analyst
*Robert Neffson, artist
*Dr. Donna J. Nelson, chemistry professor and scientific workforce scholar
*Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg, president and CEO of Strategic Investment Group
*Tarik O'Regan, composer
*Thomas R. Pickering, former under secretary of state for political affairs
*Sylvia Plath, poet
*S. Pushpavanam, distinguished Professor in Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
*Michael Pyatok, architect, Professor of Architecture at the University of Washington in Seattle
*Dr. David Reagan, former director of Pepperdine University's Center for International Business, currently an evangelist and founder of Lamb and Lion Ministries
*Stephan Reimertz, writer and art historian
*Stefan Sagmeister, Graphic Designer and Typographer
*Ross Scaife, Founder and co-editor of The Stoa: A Consortium for Electronic Publication in the Humanities and founding editor of Suda On Line
*Ruth J. Simmons, president of Brown University
*Javier Solana, former Secretary General of NATO and current EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy
*Theodore J. St. Antoine, Dean of University of Michigan School of Law and expert in labor relations and collective bargaining
*Olen Steinhauer, author
*Denis J. Sullivan, professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Northeastern University
*Julie Taymor, designer and director
*Robert Scott Thompson, Professor of Music Composition (Georgia State University); composer of avant-garde and experimental music
*Patricia Wasley, dean of the College of Education at the University of Washington and renowned education scholar
*Ulrich Wickert, German journalist and TV presenter
*Colin H Williams, Professor, School of Welsh, Cardiff University
*Jonathan Shapiro ("Zapiro"), South African cartoonist
*Urs Hölzle, senior vice president of operations at Google

ee also

* Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program [http://www.fulbright.ca]
* ERASMUS programme (European Union)
* Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF)
* Harkness Fellowship
* ITT International Fellowship Program

References

External links

* [http://fulbright.ca] The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program
* [http://www.fulbrightonline.org/ Fulbright Program Homepage] – A page with several links to Fulbright grants and fellowships
* [http://fulbright.state.gov/ US Department of State Fulbright Website]
* [http://www.cies.org/ Fulbright Scholar Program] – Council for International Exchange of Scholars
* [http://flta.fulbrightonline.org/ Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Initiative]
* [http://www.fulbrightexchanges.org/ Fulbright Teacher Exchange] - Website for K-12 Teacher and Administrator Exchange
* [http://www.fulbrightbook.com/ www.FulbrightBook.com] - Collection of Essays by Fulbright Scholars regarding their experiences