Gustavus Adolphus College ranks among the top liberal arts colleges in the nation in 2016-2017 Fulbright U.S. Scholars, according to a new list from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs that was published today in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The Fulbright Scholar Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, supporting faculty members and researchers as they share their pedagogy and scholarship with institutions in over 125 countries throughout the world.
Two scholars from Gustavus were awarded Fulbright grants for 2016-2017, placing the College among the elite bachelor-level institutions in the number of faculty members receiving recognition. Only the U.S. Naval Academy and Fort Lewis College had more Fulbright Scholars among baccalaureate colleges, with three each.
“The Fulbright U.S. Scholars program provides a fantastic opportunity for our faculty to learn, teach, and advance scholarship toward the development of solutions to challenges that are relevant at the international level. This work and opportunity is timely with our current work toward the implementation of the Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan,” Gustavus Provost and Dean of the Faculty Brenda Kelly said. The new strategic plan’s vision calls for the College to act on the great challenges of our time by providing an innovative liberal arts education of recognized excellence.
Currently, physics professor Steve Mellema ‘72 is serving as a Fulbright Scholar at Universiti Sains Malaysia (The Science University of Malaysia) in Penang, and philosophy professor emeritus Deane Curtin is conducting research on Buddhist practical ethics and climate change in New Delhi, India. Geography professor Anna Versluis also returned to campus this fall after a nine-month Fulbright Scholar appointment in Haiti in 2015-2016.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 370,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Over 1,100 U.S. college and university faculty and administrators, professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, and independent scholars are awarded Fulbright grants to teach and/or conduct research annually.
“It is such an honor to work among faculty of such high caliber and to have that celebrated by inclusion within this list,” Kelly said.
The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the United States Congress to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.
In the United States, the Institute of International Education’s Council for International Exchange of Scholars administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program on behalf of the Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships. The Fulbright Program also awards grants to U.S. students and teachers to conduct research and teach overseas. In addition, some 4,000 new foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study for graduate degrees, conduct research, and teach foreign languages.
For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright.
Leave a Reply