February 22, 2016

Eastern Michigan University is nation’s number one producer of Fulbright U.S. Scholars among Master’s institutions

Five scholars from EMU awarded Fulbright grants for this year, most of any Master’s category university in the nation

Five scholars from Eastern Michigan University have been awarded Fulbright grants for 2015-16, more than any other Master’s degree-granting university in the nation.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2015-2016 Fulbright U.S. Scholars today. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.

"Eastern Michigan University's recognition as the number one producer of Fulbright Scholars in the United States among Master's institutions is a tremendous honor and reflects our deep commitment to international programming," said Interim Provost Rhonda Longworth. "The fact that we have five faculty awardees -- more than any other Master's institution and ahead of institutions such as Villanova, which was among second highest Master's producers, with three awardees, is testament to the outstanding faculty at Eastern and recognition of the extensive scholarly achievements of Eastern's faculty.

“For our students from Michigan, across the United States and from more than 50 foreign countries, this recognition reflects the world-class learning environment and the high quality teaching that takes place every day on the Eastern Michigan University campus."

Eastern Michigan University Fulbright 2015-16 Scholars, their host institution and areas of specialization are:

• Leslie Atzmon: University of the Arts, London; graphic design.
• Wallace Bridges: University of Ghana, drama/theatre arts/directing.
• Rebecca Martusewicz: University of Tampere, Finland; foundations of education.
• William Sverdlik: University of Namibia, artificial intelligence and robotics.
• Rosemary Weston Gil: Franco-American Commission for Educational Exchange, teaching English as a foreign language.

Universities are divided into a variety of categories for Fulbright awards. Those include major research universities, such as Harvard; master’s degree granting universities such as Eastern, universities that primarily grant bachelor’s degrees, and community colleges. Eastern’s total of five scholars led 10 other master’s category universities, a group that includes Villanova University, Boise State University and California State University at Long Beach. No other Michigan universities were listed in the top master’s group for the 2015-16 awards

Carla Damiano, a professor of German and German section head; and Betsy Morgan, director of the EMU Office of International Initiatives, support the Fulbright Scholar Program at the Eastern Michigan University.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 360,000 participants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. More than 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. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program operates in over 125 countries throughout the world. Lists of Fulbright Scholar recipients are available at the Fulbright Scholar Program website.

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 languages.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit the Fulbright Program, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs website.

It should be noted Eastern Michigan University has been reclassified from a large master’s university to a doctoral university in the 2015 edition of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education rankings system, a nationally recognized framework for identifying and comparing American institutions of higher education.

by Geoff Larcom