Fulbright visiting scholars announced

Six visiting international scholars will be in residence during the 2002-03 academic year under the Fulbright Visiting Scholars program.

The program is sponsored by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department, and administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. The UW–Madison Office of International Studies and Programs and the Wisconsin chapter of the Fulbright Association made the announcement of the scholars, who will arrive later this summer. They are:

• Mohammad Abdel Jabbar, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan, who will be affiliated with the Department of Chemical Engineering.
• Bustanul Arifin, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences, IKIP University of Lampung, Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, who will be affiliated with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
• Deniz Erbas, a professor in the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, who will be affiliated with the Department of Kinesiology, School of Education.
• Dace Jansone, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, Vidzeme University College, Valmiera, Latvia, who will be affiliated with the La Follette School of Public Affairs.
• Byong Kyun Na, a professor in the Department of Social Welfare, Hallym University, Seoul, Korea, who will be affiliated with the School of Social Work.
• Onyemaechi Ekechukwu, associate professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, who will be affiliated with the Solar Energy Laboratory.

Established in 1946 by the U.S. Congress, the Fulbright Program provides grants for graduate students, scholars and professionals, and teachers and administrators from the U.S. and other countries. Named after former U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program is the flagship international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. The program believes that the contributions of Fulbright scholars are critical to the development and strengthening of international programs at colleges and universities around the world, and enhances international understanding.

“We are excited to have these scholars among us, the latest addition to our international community,” says Gilles Bousquet, dean of international studies at UW–Madison. “We hope the knowledge and contacts they make here in Wisconsin, in the nation‚s heartland, at a great public research university, will not only be useful when they return to their home countries, but benefit all the world’s citizens.”

International Studies facilitates the placement of Fulbright Visiting Scholars in departments, schools and colleges at UW–Madison.

“We welcome the visiting scholars to campus and hope that their stay in Madison and the U.S. will contribute to greater cultural and national understandings,” says Robert Skloot, secretary/treasurer of the Wisconsin chapter of the Fulbright Association and an associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at UW–Madison. Senator Fulbright once called his initiative “a modest program with an immodest aim — the achievement in international affairs of a regime more civilized, rational, and humane than the empty system of power of the past.” Skloot says that in this post-Sept. 11 time of greater uncertainty, Fulbright’s words have particular relevance.