FIU named 2021 Hispanic-Serving Institutions Leader by Fulbright Program

FIU was named a Fulbright Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) Leader by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

The ECA is recognizing the extensive engagement of HSIs with the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program. This is the inaugural year of this distinction awarded to only 35 HSIs. Fulbright HSI Leaders were announced Oct. 27 during an international plenary session at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) annual conference.

Fulbright HSI Leader status is conferred to FIU for hosting and sending abroad multiple scholars during the 2019-2021 academic years and having promoted Fulbright Program opportunities on campus.

The Green School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) has regularly hosted Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants who offer language instruction in their native tongue and engage the campus and the local community in sharing their unique culture. SIPA also has been home to FIU’s first Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, Amit Ranjan from India, and will soon receive the second, B. A. Hussainmiya from Sri Lanka.

In addition, Hilary Landorf, executive director of the Office of Global Learning Initiatives, recently returned from the 2-week Fulbright International Education Administrators Seminar in France.

“Time and time again, I've witnessed the impact of a Fulbright grant,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg, himself a Fulbright grantee to Honduras in 1982. “Scholars and students share their knowledge in a culture other than their own, and through this immersion, they experience and adopt new approaches to the culture and people who they are learning about.”

FIU also has a distinguished record as a Top Producer of Fulbright Scholars, a recognition it received in 2016, 2020 and 2021 for sending six or more faculty abroad to carry out a research project, to teach or to do both. 

This initiative is part of the U.S. State Department’s longstanding commitment to building diversity and inclusion within the Fulbright Program and within all the bureau’s international exchange programs. On July 28, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona released a “Joint Statement of Principles in Support of International Education,” which outlines the many benefits of international education and the need for “all Americans [...] to be equipped with global and cultural competencies.”

The Fulbright HSI Leaders Initiative supports the goals of the joint statement, including the principle that U.S. participants in international exchanges should reflect the diversity of the United States.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs Ethan Rosenzweig, speaking on behalf of ECA, which sponsors the Fulbright Program, congratulated and thanked the leadership of the designated institutions for recognizing the impact of the Fulbright Program.

“Thank you for creating a campus culture that celebrates the mission of Fulbright and international exchanges. Thank you for epitomizing the principle that mutual understanding between peoples of the United States and other countries will lead to a more just and peaceful society at home,”Rosenzweig said.

He also praised the faculty, staff and administrators on campus who recruit, advise and support future Fulbrighters throughout the application process. "Your work epitomizes the values of why we all come to our jobs each and every day. . .to ensure our students have every opportunity to excel beyond goals they may not have believed were ever obtainable."

2021 marks the 75th Anniversary of the Fulbright Program. Celebrations throughout the year are highlighting the impressive accomplishments and legacy of the program and its alumni over its first 75 years, both in the United States and around the world. A dedicated 75th-anniversary website showcases Fulbright alumni, partner countries and anniversary events.

The Fulbright Program was created to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Fulbright is active in more than 160 countries worldwide and partners with participating governments, host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States. Many of these organizations also provide direct and indirect support.

ECA sponsors the Fulbright program and several nonprofit, cooperative partners implement and support the program on the Bureau’s behalf.

For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, visit the Fulbright website or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Press Office by email, ECA-Press@state.gov.