Brown, RISD among top producers of Fulbright scholars

ACCORDING TO FINDINGS by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Brown University received the most Fulbright scholarships in the research institutions category. Some of the scholars are pictured here. / COURTESY BROWN UNIVERSITY
ACCORDING TO FINDINGS by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Brown University received the most Fulbright scholarships in the research institutions category. Some of the scholars are pictured here. / COURTESY BROWN UNIVERSITY

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island institutions of higher education reigned supreme in this year’s list of top Fulbright scholarship recipients.

According to findings by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Brown University received the most Fulbright scholarships in the research institutions category – a first for the Ivy League university – and the Rhode Island School of Design topped the list of eight schools in the special-focus four-year institution category.

Of the 110 Brown applicants, 30 recipients – 24 members of the Class of 2016, five from the Class of 2015 and a current doctoral student – were awarded the U.S. Department of State-funded awards which will allow them to study, teach English or research abroad for the 2016-2017 academic year.

One such successful recipient is Anselmo Fuentes, who will use the scholarship to return to his native Mexico to teach and reconnect with the culture.

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“Through the Fulbright, I can do meaningful work but still get the travel and cultural experience that I want,” he said.

After a year in Mexico, Fuentes plans to enroll in the Urban Teachers Program which will place him in a Washington, D.C., public school while he studies for a master’s degree in education from Johns Hopkins University.

Linda Dunleavy, associate dean of the college for fellowships, said the university encourages students to apply for Fulbright scholarships because of the positive impact it will have on their studies and future career.

Dunleavy said she was “thrilled” by the news because, for more than a decade, Brown has been featured in the top 10 of universities receiving the most Fulbright scholarships, but this is the first time the institution topped that list.

Fulbright scholarships, said Dunleavy in prepared remarks, present students with “a life-changing opportunity that affords students a nuanced understanding of cultural difference that will inform their work in the world as professionals and citizens.”

A list of the Brown Fulbright scholars is available HERE. Emily Avera, a doctoral candidate studying anthropology, was the single 2016-17 recipient from Brown’s Graduate School.

According to RISD, the two Fulbright scholarship recipients are Miri Kim ’16 and Midge Wattles ’12. Kim plans to study South Korean society at Ewha Womens University in Seoul for the first half and under the guidance of artist Wal Chong Lee for the second. Wattles will travel to Palermo, Italy, to research the history of Sicilian photography.

Established in 1946, Fulbright scholarships have been awarded to more than 370,000 participants who were chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in 140 countries across the globe.

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