Florida A&M University (FAMU), which has produced nearly a dozen Fulbright Scholars in the last decade, has been recently named a 2018-2019 Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader.
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is recognizing the noteworthy level of engagement that selected historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) have achieved with the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.
Through the inaugural Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader designation, ECA recognizes 19 HBCU that have demonstrated noteworthy support for Fulbright exchange participants during the 2018-2019 academic year and have promoted Fulbright Program opportunities on campus.
“We are humbled to be selected as a Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader,” said FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D. “This designation aligns closely with our strategic priorities of providing an exceptional student experience and promoting faculty excellence.”
The FAMU Office of International Education and Development is creating a taskforce to increase the number of faculty and student Fulbright applications. Since 2010, 10 FAMU faculty members have been Fulbright Scholars.
They include Edith Ndubuaku Onyeozili, Ph.D., associate professor of synthetic organic chemistry, who is presently on a Fulbright at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Nigeria.
Her Chemistry Department colleague, Ngozi Ugochukwu, Ph.D., spent 16 months researching, teaching and in university administration while on a Fulbright at the Federal University of Technology at Minna, Nigeria, from 2014 to 2015.
Mandip Sachdeva, Ph.D., a professor in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, was awarded a Fulbright to conduct nanotechnology research for four months at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil during the 2013-2014 academic year.
Sachdeva gained international prominence in 2019 when he and his team of researchers were the first in the U.S. to 3D print a human cornea.
“My Fulbright experience helped me build new collaborations and broaden my outlook at the global level,” Sachdeva said. “I was not only enriched by a new cultural experience but was also exposed to students and faculty in the area of nanotechnology in Brazil, which stimulated new ideas in my research.”
ECA established this designation to acknowledge the strong partnerships between the Fulbright Program and HBCUs, and to encourage the entire network of HBCUs to increase their Fulbright engagement.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program of the U.S. government and was created to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
“We are pleased to recognize our Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders for the work they have done in engaging with the Fulbright Program,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce. “We look forward to continued collaboration in promoting mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. We hope that this recognition inspires HBCUs as well as other institutions to take advantage of all the Fulbright Program has to offer – internationalizing campuses while supporting scholars and students who benefit professionally and personally from a Fulbright experience.”
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 conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to important international problems.
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.
For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit eca.state.gov/fulbright.
