80 Years, One Day, One Fulbright: Inside the 2026 Global Day of Service
On August 1, 2026 — Fulbright’s 80th birthday — something remarkable happened in 35 countries at once. A retired teacher in North Carolina knelt in the dirt of a community garden. A group of alumni in Berlin picked up litter bags in a Kreuzberg park. A Fulbrighter who came to the United States from Zambia […]
The Next Chapter: Reflections on My First Year at the Fulbright Association
As I reflect on my one-year anniversary serving as Executive Director of the Fulbright Association, I continue to be amazed by the extraordinary people who make up the Fulbright community. Over the past year, I have had the privilege of meeting Fulbrighters from across the country and around the world—educators, scientists, artists, diplomats, entrepreneurs, nonprofit […]
The Time of His Life: How Fulbright Shaped Akio Naito’s Global Leadership
In 1992, Akio Naito arrived at Columbia Law School as a Fulbright Scholar. By then, he had already begun what would become a remarkable career at Seiko, joining the company’s legal department in 1984 after graduating from Sophia University in Tokyo. He went to New York to deepen his knowledge of law. He returned to […]
Unlocking the Power of the Network: 3 Reasons to Join the Fulbright Association Today
With over 400,000 Fulbright alumni worldwide, our global community holds an incredible amount of talent, insight, and passion. Currently, the Fulbright Association is 7,000 members strong—meaning there is a massive world of connection just waiting to be tapped. Whether you are a recent returnee or an established professional, joining the Fulbright Association bridges the gap […]
House Rejects Amendment to Eliminate Fulbright Funding
On July 15, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected an amendment to H.R. 8595 that would have eliminated funding for the Fulbright Program by a vote of 79-348. To those who spent the past few weeks writing emails, making phone calls, meeting with congressional offices, and sharing your Fulbright story on social media, we sincerely thank you. The vote demonstrates that support for Fulbright remains deeply bipartisan. Members […]
From Fulbright Scholar to Global Business Leader: Honoring Dr. R. Fenton-May
In 1967, R. Fenton-May received a Fulbright grant that would help set the course for a remarkable international life. Born into a global journey that had already taken him from high school in Zimbabwe to university studies at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Fenton crossed the Atlantic as a Fulbrighter to study at the […]
A River in Time: Honoring Fulbright Leader Jerry Cooper
In 1956, Jerome “Jerry” Cooper stood at the threshold of a remarkable life. At just 26 years old, after completing his graduate degree in architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he received two honors that would shape not only his career, but also his philosophy of life and design. The first was the American […]
In the Room Where Change Is Made – Ivana Krsteska
I came to the United States from Macedonia in 2022 as a Fulbright student to pursue a second master’s degree in Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State University. I arrived with a clear objective: to understand American construction practices, particularly how biobased materials are evaluated, certified, and integrated into building systems, and to bring […]