FIU named a top producer of Fulbright U.S. Scholars 2019-2020

FIU is among the 21 U.S. doctoral institutions that produced the most Fulbright U.S. Scholars in 2019-2020, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced Monday.

Six scholars from FIU were awarded Fulbright grants for 2019-2020 in fields of scholarship ranging from history to science. The Chronicle of Higher Education published the list of top producers of Fulbright Scholars on Monday.

The Fulbright U.S. Scholars program is the U.S. government’s competitive flagship international educational exchange program. It awards grants to U.S. faculty and administrators to conduct research, teach, or study foreign educational systems overseas. It also makes awards to visiting scholars from across the world to engage at U.S. campuses.

“This is a testament to our faculty’s commitment to engage across the globe in meaningful exchanges,” said Vice President for Regional and World Locations and Vice Provost for Biscayne Bay Campus Pablo Ortiz. “Our diverse body of faculty continues to foster mutual understanding, share knowledge across communities, and improve lives around the globe.”

The following FIU faculty received Fulbright Scholar Awards in 2019-2020:

• Hilary Jones, associate professor of history
  • Conducts research on African history at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar in Dakar, Senegal
• Jean Charles, Ph.D. candidate, sociology
  • Lectures and conducts research on disaster relief, NGOs and development at State University of Haiti in Port au Prince, Haiti
• Norman Munroe, professor of engineering
  • Lectures and conducts research on petroleum/coal/gas engineering at the University of Guyana in Georgetown, Guyana
• Carolin Lusby, assistant professor of tourism
  • Lectures and conducts research on tourism and conservation in Brazil at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Deodutta Roy, professor of biomedical sciences
  • Lectures and conducts research on precision functional genomics solutions at Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India
• Iqbal Akhtar, associate professor of religious studies
  • Lectures and conducts research on the Sindhi Khōjā caste at University of Management and Technology Lahore in Lahore and the National Archives in Islamabad, Pakistan *deferred to 2020-2021

More than 2,200 U.S. students and more than 900 U.S. college and university faculty and administrators are awarded Fulbright grants annually. In addition, some 4,000 Fulbright foreign students and visiting scholars come to the United States annually. Fulbright is active in more than 160 countries worldwide.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given over 390,000 passionate and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach, and contribute to finding solutions to important international problems.

“We are delighted to see that the colleges and universities we are honoring as 2019-2020 Fulbright Top Producing Institutions reflect the geographic and institutional diversity of higher education in the United States,” said Marie Royce, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs. “In supporting their faculty and administrators who pursue Fulbright awards, these institutions benefit from new viewpoints from abroad and new international collaborations, which often lead to discoveries and breakthroughs that have a global impact. Fulbright U.S. Scholars benefit professionally throughout their career by expanding the scope and reach of their research, bringing a global perspective to their teaching, and receiving the professional recognition that comes with being named a Fulbright Scholar.”

For more information about the Fulbright Program, please visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright.