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Greetings!
This is the latest issue of the electronic bulletin produced by the
Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology. It is sent to educational
innovators and leaders in scientific and technical fields in the US and
around the world, including Fulbrighters, hosts of Fulbrights,
commissions, and program administrators. Previous issues can be found on
our website: www.FulbrightAcademy.org
For additional information about the Fulbright Academy and its mission,
please refer to our webpage or the end of this bulletin. We can be reached
at info@fulbrighter.org
If you are not a member, please consider joining. We look forward to
your involvement.
Meeting Reports
In February, the Academy held meetings in Washington, Quito, and
Berlin, continuing our important work by bringing together Fulbrighters,
Fulbright hosts, and other leaders.
The Washington meeting at the offices of World Wildlife Fund included a
networking reception and our 2005 annual meeting. Over two dozen people
attended, including representatives from Fulbright administering agencies,
local embassies, law firms, conservation groups, the Smithsonian, and the
Fulbright Association. While in Washington, several board members also
participated in the annual meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The Fulbright Forum in Quito was titled "Global Water Crisis: Problems
& Solutions." Presented in partnership with World Water Watch and the
Fulbright Commission in Ecuador, the forum was held at the commission's
office. Over 60 people attended, including people representing NGOs,
university representatives, Fulbright alumni, current Fulbrighters,
government agency representatives, and some interesed private citizens.
The third meeting was held during the annual Fulbright Week in Berlin,
organized by the German Fulbright Commission. Each year, the German
Commission brings some 300 current grantees to Berlin, and this year the
Academy organized a special dinner and program for those interested or
working in scientific disciplines. Attendees included professors,
teachers, teaching assistants, and student grantees. Several are profiled
in the new members section, below.
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Fulbright Forum - Upcoming Programs |
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| The Fulbright Forum is a series of events, held
in the United States and abroad, that bring together Fulbright
scholars, Academy members, leaders in the various scientific and
technical disciplines, and the public.
As described above, we held several forums in February and are
now planning additional Fulbright Forums. The Forums are typically
held in conjunction with other meetings or in partnership with
universities, research organizations, or Fulbright alumni groups.
During the last few months we have been in contact with groups such
as the German Fulbright Commission, the Agency for Science
Technology & Research (in Singapore), the Moroccan Fulbright
Alumni Association, Pennsylvania State University, the Canadian
International Development Agency, and the University of New
Hampshire.
The Academy is seeking major sponsors for expanding our series of
Forums and meetings. If you would like to be a sponsor or a partner
in organizing a forum on a topic of particular interest to you or
your organization, please contact the Academy at +1-207-799-3098
For More
Information »
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Developments in Northern Africa |
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 The First International Conference on Water
Resources in the 21st Century will be held on 6-8 December 2005, in
Alexandria, Egypt. Organized by the Egyptian Water Resources
Association, it aims to provide hydrologists and water resources
engineers with the technical knowledge and skills to assist society
in managing water resources. This meeting is also dedicated to
furthering the understanding of natural hazard and vulnerability
risks and to discussing policy and management options to mitigate
their impacts. It will cover aspects from the detection of water
stress to the planning of mitigation strategies, and will be an
opportunity to bring together scholars, scientists, experts and
researchers, thereby allowing managers, decision makers and
stakeholders from around the world to discuss and develop a general
framework to optimize water resources management. (www.ewra.com)
The Arab Union of Scientists & Researchers was established in
2004 as a scientific nonprofit non-governmental, nonpolitical
organization. AUSR services are designed to complement traditional
scientific research and technology base and to attract new
categories of members who seek to enhance their professional and
technical development. AUSR was formed in keeping with the Strategic
Plan of Arab Countries University and the Union of Arab Universities
to provide improved and comprehensive products and services to a
variety of scientist and researcher teams working in technical,
educational, and professional areas. The AUSR Honorary President is
Prof. Farouk El-Baz, Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at
Boston University and also Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of
Science at Ain Shams University in Cairo. (www.ausr.org)
We are pleased to announce the creation of a Fulbright alumni
organization in Morocco. Their First General Conference and Assembly
was held at the ENIM (Ecole Nationale de l'Industrie Minérale) in
Rabat on Saturday, October 2, 2004. A large and interesting
discussion on sustainable development and the role of universities
also took place among panelists and the audience of about 150. In
the same afternoon, the organization's General Assembly elected 11
members to serve on the Board for the next triennum.
(http://macece.bizland.com)
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Fulbright Centennial 1905-2005 |
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| Senator Fulbright was born on April 9, 1905,
and so this year we celebrate the centennial of his birth. Fulbright
alumni groups around the world are organizing centennial programs.
The German Alumni Association (Fulbright Alumni, e.V) is one
of the largest alumni groups, and they are hosting a special program
to celebrate the man behind the Fulbright Program and his many
contributions to the world society. The event, to be held in the
Amerika Haus in Frankfurt-am-Main, will include speeches, a panel
discussion, and contributions by Fulbright musicians.
The Irish Fulbright Commission has organized a Fulbright
Centenary Concert and Art Exhibition to showcase the Irish and US
Fulbright artists, musicians and poets who have participated in the
Programme. Opening night on March 31 is an invitation-only program
at the RHA Gallagher Gallery in Dublin.
The British Fulbright Scholars Association will celebrate
the day (April 9) in Edinburgh, Scotland with a traditional Scottish
"ceilidh" in the famous Fettes College, alma mater of James Bond.
Similarly, the Bulgarian Fulbrighters have organized an
afternoon conference at the University of Sofia for April 9,
followed by a dinner at the University Restaurant. The Uzbekistan
Fulbrighters also have a meeting that day, with presentations
from Fulbright Alumni, including a presentation titled "Catching
Senator Fulbright's spirit for the performance of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals" by Fulbrighter Dinora Azimova, who is
also Human Development Coordinator for the UN Development Program in
Uzbekistan.
The Academy expects that additional programs will take place
throughout the year, and we will keep you informed of upcoming
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Other Fulbright Program Celebrations |
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| National Fulbright Commissions often use
anniversaries of the start of their exchange program with the US as
a way to promote Fulbright programs locally and as a way to unite
alumni. For example, 2007 will be mark the 50th Anniversary of the
Fulbright Programme in Ireland, and the Irish Alumni Association, in
cojunction with their Fulbright Commission, is compiling a directory
of all Irish and US Fulbright awardees over the past 50 years.
Next year - 2006 - marks the 60th Anniversary of the creation of
the Fulbright Exchange Program. The Fulbright Academy of Science
& Technology is using this anniversary to conduct a review of
achievements. Many people associate Fulbright scholars with the
humanities, so we may also be looking at the way in which Fulbrights
are awarded to individuals who are active in science, technology,
engineering, innovation, and related disciplines.
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Fulbright Academy at AAAS |
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| At the Annual Meeting of the Amercian
Association for the Advancement of Science, we were pleased to
discover that this year is also the centennial of the American
Sociological Assocation (www.asanet.org). The ASA will be
celebrating their centennial at their meeting in Philadelphia in
August.
While in Washington, we met briefly with Dr. John Holden,
the incoming president of AAAS and professor of environmental
science and public policy at Harvard Univeristy, as well as with
staff from the Third World Academy of Sciences in Trieste;
and the International Foundation for Science in Stockholm.
We also spoke with a number of universities and organizations
about institutional membership in the Fulbright Academy. Many were
keen on membership as a way to promote their institution and their
achievements to the Fulbright community and thereby attract faculty
and students.
Next year's AAAS meeting will be held in St. Louis, MO; the
deadline for submitting proposals for a symposium is May 2, 2005.
AAAS
2005 & 2006 Meeting »
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Some of our newest members |
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| The Academy regularly profiles new members in
our newsletter. The information is either sumbitted by the members
or the profiles are based on materials on the individual's website.
Jennifer Nupp is the exchange program administrator for
the Fulbright Teacher Exchange. Since 1946, the Fulbright Teacher
and Administrator Exchange Program has helped contribute to mutual
understanding between the United States and countries around the
world by sending nearly 23,000 teachers and administrators overseas
to teach and learn. Most are are direct exchanges of positions with
colleagues from other countries for six weeks, a semester, or a full
academic year. (www.FulbrightExchanges.org)
Dr. Donald Friend is Associate Professor (with tenure) of
Geography and Director of Earth Science Programs at Minnesota State
University (MSU) in Mankato, Minnesota. His training has great
breadth, with specialization in mountain and desert environments.
His research and teaching interests focus on physical geography,
especially earth surface and atmospheric processes, their
interaction and human impacts on mountains. He is also keenly
interested in environmental and geographic education. He is the US
Representative to the International Geographical Union Commission on
Diversity in Mountain Systems, and past Chair and Co-Founder of the
Mountain Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American
Geographers. He is currently in Germany as a Fulbright lecturer at
the University of Erlangen.
We also welcome five current student grantees as members of the
Academy:
Mr. William (Trey) Brant of Texas State
University in San Marcos, who is currently a Fulbright teaching
assistant in Germany.
Mr. Allan Bateman of St. Olaf
College (Northfield, MN), who is doing research on molecular
neuroscience at the University of Oslo.
Ms. Adrienne
Dolberrry of Drexel University (Philadelphia), who is doing
Fulbright research on biology at the University of
Giessen.
Ms. Pamela Gehring of Wittenberg Univeristy
(Springfield, OH), who is doing research on biology at the
University of Wurzburg.
Mr. Daniel Stark of the Univeristy
of Oklahoma, who is doing research at the Technical Univeristy in
Munich and will attend Rice University at the end of his Fulbright.
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Your Organization and Your Membership |
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| The Fulbright Academy is an independent
non-profit organization based in the United States. We receive
organizational and financial support from institutional and
individual members, selected Fulbright alumni groups and
commissions, corporations, foundations, and other entities
interested in developing an international network of leaders in
science and technology. We are not affiliated with the Fulbright
Association (US), the US State Department or the Board of Foreign
Scholars.
The Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology uses the
expertise of our network of Fulbrighters and leaders in science to
address critical problems in education, scientific innovation and
economic development. Our database has over 10,000 Fulbrighters and
scientists around the world.
Our projects are funded by contracts, grants, and donations from
those that share our mission. Membership income is an important part
of our annual budget; if you or your institution are not a member,
please consider joining today.
Click here for a
listing of supporters »
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