Oregon State tied for fourth nationally in producing faculty Fulbright Scholars this year

Feb. 10, 2020

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University is tied for fourth nationally among universities for producing faculty Fulbright scholars this academic year, the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program announced today.

Eight Oregon State faculty members were named Fulbright scholars for 2019-20, qualifying OSU as a “top producing” university, according to the program. Only 21 universities nationally in the research institution category received that recognition. To be considered “top producing” a university must have a minimum of six faculty scholars.

Penn State University led the nation with the most Fulbright faculty scholars, while OSU was tied for fourth nationally with the University of Washington, Purdue University, Michigan State University, Florida State University, University of Kentucky and University of New Mexico.

“I attribute these impressive numbers to OSU faculty who are deeply curious and committed to collaborating and sharing knowledge across borders,” said Julie Walkin, international program manager and Fulbright Scholar liaison at Oregon State. “And it’s important to note that their respective host country and institution has also selected them for their extraordinary skills and expertise.”

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers about 470 awards to teach, research and conduct professional projects in more than 135 countries. Opportunities are available for higher education faculty and administrators and artists, journalists, scientists, and independent scholars.

This year’s faculty Fulbright scholars are: Kevin Ahern (physiology, Malta); Marit Bovbjerg (public health, Ireland); Julie Elston (economics, Austria); Joan Gross (anthropology, Belgium); Karl Haapala (engineering, Finland); Elise Lockwood (mathematics, Norway); Hannah Rempel (library science, Czech Republic); and Brian Sidlauskas (biology, Brazil).

Elston is based at OSU-Cascades in Bend. The remainder of the recipients are based at Oregon State’s Corvallis campus.

Oregon State has had 37 Fulbright faculty scholars in the past decade. The eight this year tie a record from the 2012-13 academic year.

There is also a Fulbright student scholar program, which offers recent graduates and graduate students opportunities to conduct advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching in more than 140 countries.

Oregon State also had a strong year for Fulbright student scholars, with five students being named a Fulbright scholar.

They are Andrea Burton (English teaching assistantship, Romania); Maggie Exton (study/research grant, Indonesia); Omar Sheikh (study/research grant, Canada); Delaney Smith (study/research grant, Belgium); Dang Duong (English teaching assistantship, Kazakhstan.)

Since 2015, Oregon State has had 23 student scholars, up from seven the five years before that.

“This rise coincides with the creation of the OSU Prestigious Scholarships office, which is dedicated to outreach, recruitment and candidate support for national and international scholarships, such as Fulbright, that require a nomination or endorsement from Oregon State,” said LeAnn Joy Adam, the OSU coordinator for prestigious scholarships.

The Honors College created and hosts the office, but its staff works with honors and non-honors students, as well as alumni and graduate students.

General OSU

About Oregon State University: As one of only three land, sea, space and sun grant universities in the nation, Oregon State serves Oregon and the world by working on today’s most pressing issues. Our nearly 38,000 students come from across the globe, and our programs operate in every Oregon county. Oregon State receives more research funding than all of the state’s comprehensive public universities combined. At our campuses in Corvallis and Bend, marine research center in Newport, OSU Portland Center and award-winning Ecampus, we excel at shaping today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders.

Story By

Sean Nealon, 541-737-0787, [email protected]

Source

Julie Walkin, 541-737-6407, [email protected]; LeAnn Joy Adam, 541-737-1996, [email protected]