Brown ranks number three in the nation among colleges and universities in the number of successful Fulbright applicants it produces. Twenty-five of Brown’s 69 undergraduate and graduate student applicants were named Fulbright Fellows in 2007-08, giving Brown the top-ranked success rate in the Ivy League. Brown also ranks first in the Ivy League for the most undergraduates receiving Fulbright awards.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown ranks number three among colleges and universities in the country for producing the most students with 2007-08 U.S. Fulbright awards, according to new data announced by the Fulbright Program. The success of the top producing institutions is highlighted in the Oct. 26, 2007, edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Twenty-five students from Brown – 23 undergraduates and two graduate students – are currently studying overseas on Fulbright grants. The recipients were selected from 69 applications from Brown, giving the University the highest success rate among Fulbright applicants from Ivy League schools (36.2 percent). Brown also ranks first in the Ivy League for the most undergraduates receiving Fulbright awards. The students are currently studying, teaching, or conducting research in 18 countries around the world. Their projects range from studying the contemporary music scene in Latvia to teaching English in Korea to examining the integration of Polish immigrants in Norwegian society.

“The Fulbright Program offers these students opportunities to make important contributions to their respective fields and to build international bridges between Brown and scholars around the world,” said Katherine Bergeron, dean of the College. “We are proud to have so many of our wonderful undergraduates representing Brown, Fulbright, and the United States through their research abroad.”

Among this year’s Fulbright recipients are Brown graduate students Rebecca Peters and Sudeepto Mukherji, who received Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation fellowships for research in Angola and Russia, respectively. The undergraduates and recent Brown alumni who received 2007-08 Fulbright awards are:

  • Elise Jett Baran ’07 (Poland)
  • Christopher Whitten Bernard ’07 (Latvia)
  • Elizabeth Danielson Bird ’07 (Malawi)
  • Benjamin W. Boas ’07 (Japan)
  • Arianna G. Cassiday ’07 (Argentina)
  • Lee Chu ’07 (Korea)
  • Jennifer Elizabeth Chudy ’07 (Korea)
  • Josue Cofresi ’07 (Taiwan)
  • Gregory Patrick Fay ’07 (China)
  • David Guttmann ’07 (Israel)
  • Jonathan David Herman ’07 (Cameroon)
  • Emma Fennell Kaplan ’07 (China)
  • Smitha Khorana ’07 (India)
  • Diane Sookyoung Lee ’07 (Korea)
  • Elena Lesley ’04 (Cambodia)
  • Toby Xianyu Li ’07 (Korea)
  • Jeffrey Allan Lugowe ’07 (Norway)
  • Juliana McKittrick ’07 (Turkey)
  • Gabriela Joyce O’Leary ’07 (Brazil)
  • Candas Pinar ’06 (Turkey)
  • Natalie Ann Smolenski ’07 (Egypt)
  • Nicholas Van Sant ’07 (Argentina)
  • Natan Tzvi Zeichner ’07 (Brazil)

The 25 Brown students are among almost 1,500 American scholars studying, teaching English, and conducting research in more than 125 countries this fall under the Fulbright Program. Of the 1,500 Fulbright recipients, 19 percent are at the Ph.D. degree level, 17 percent are at the master’s degree level, and 65 percent are at the bachelor’s degree level. Students receiving awards for this academic year applied through 570 colleges or universities.

The Fulbright student program at Brown is administered through the Graduate School for graduate students and through the Dean of the College for undergraduates. These offices work with students through all stages of the application process from brainstorming projects to offering feedback on essays to advising them about potential referees and host country contacts. These offices recently submitted applications for the 2008-09 academic year – the largest number of student candidates in Brown’s history. In all, 59 undergraduates and 12 graduate students were reviewed by campus committees and will now compete nationally for Fulbright awards.

The Fulbright Program

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Financial support is provided by an annual appropriation from Congress to the Department of State, with significant contributions from participating governments and host institutions in the United States and abroad. Since its inception in 1946, the program has provided approximately 290,000 participants worldwide with the opportunity to observe each others’ political, economic and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world’s inhabitants. In the last 61 years, almost 42,000 students from the United States have benefited from the Fulbright experience.

In the United States, the Institute of International Education administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the U.S. student program, including an annual competition for the scholarships. The Fulbright Program also awards grants to American teachers and faculty to do research, lecture and teach overseas. In addition, some 2,200 new foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, conduct research and lecture at U.S. universities, colleges and secondary schools.