UH Mānoa Named Top Producer of Fulbright Scholars

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is one of 12 institutions included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2018–2019 Fulbright U.S. Scholars. Each year the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces the top-producing institutions for the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. The lists are published annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education. UH Mānoa last received this recognition in 2010–2011.

Six scholars from UH Mānoa were awarded Fulbright awards for 2018–2019—”more than any other university in the State of Hawaiʻi.”

“Fulbright programs have long enabled our faculty to gain valuable experience overseas, developing and nurturing important international ties, with lasting benefit for faculty and students at UH Mānoa and in the many countries where they conduct research or teach,” said Vice Chancellor for Research and Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Michael Bruno. “We are proud that UH Mānoa continues to field so many successful applicants; this kind of international engagement is a key component of who we are as Hawaiʻi’s flagship university.”

“We thank the colleges and universities across the United States that we are recognizing as Fulbright top-producing institutions for their role in increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce. “We are proud of all the Fulbright students and scholars from these institutions who represent America abroad, increasing and sharing their skills and knowledge on a global stage.”

The Fulbright Scholars from UH Mānoa in 2018–2019 are:

• Elizabeth Gilliland, associate professor, Second Language Studies (Chile)
• Phillip Ooi, professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering (Japan)
• Georganne Nordstrom, associate professor, English (Ireland)
• Adam Smith, PhD candidate, Biology (Iceland)
• Anna Stirr, associate professor, Asian Studies (Nepal)
• Tamara von Albertini Vassileff, professor, Philosophy (Bulgaria)

An information session for faculty and graduate students will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 26, from noon to 1:15 p.m. in Kuykendall 107.

An information session for undergraduate students will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 26, from 3 to 4 p.m. in QLC 411, including Luce, Marshall and Rhodes Scholarships.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is supported at UH Mānoa through Fulbright program advisors R. Anderson Sutton, assistant vice chancellor of International and Exchange Programs and dean of the School for Pacific and Asian Studies; William Chapman, interim dean of the School of Architecture; Julienne K. Maeda, associate dean of the Graduate Division; and Christina Gerhardt, associate professor in the Department of Languages and Literatures of Europe and the Americas.

For more information about the Fulbright Program at UH Mānoa, go online.

More on the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 390,000 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 800 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.

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State, funded by an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education.

The Fulbright Program also awards grants to U.S. students and teachers to conduct research and teach overseas. In addition, some 4,000 foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, lecture, conduct research and teach foreign languages.

To learn more about the Fulbright Program, go online.