Wesleyan University is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2020-2021 Fulbright U.S. Students. Each year the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces the top producing institutions for the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. The Chronicle of Higher Education publishes the lists annually.
Six students and alumni from Wesleyan received Fulbright awards for academic year 2020-2021, more than any other institution of its type in Connecticut. The grantees are Abe Kipnis ’19, Ananya Subrahmanian ’18, Anthony Price ’20, Inayah Bashir ’20, Jed Munson ’19, and Nicole McCann ’18.
“We are delighted to see that the colleges and universities we are honoring as 2020-2021 Fulbright Top Producing Institutions reflect the geographic and institutional diversity of higher education in the United States,” said Mary Kirk, Director of the Office of Academic Exchange Programs in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “Fulbright U.S. Students enrich their educations, advance their careers, and make valuable contributions abroad and at home. They also expand their networks by joining the diverse and accomplished group of Fulbright alumni and receiving the professional recognition that comes with being named a Fulbright Student.”
The Fulbright competition is administered at Wesleyan through the Fries Center for Global Studies. The campus Fulbright Program Adviser is Dr. Magdalena Zapędowska, Assistant Director of Fellowships. The campus application deadline for the 2021-2022 competition is August 29, 2021. We nominate everyone who submits a complete application.
The Fulbright Program was created to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Since its inception in 1946, over 400,000 people from all backgrounds—recent university graduates, teachers, scientists and researchers, artists, and more—have participated in the Fulbright Program and returned with an expanded worldview, a deep appreciation for their host country and its people, and a new network of colleagues and friends. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs, and university presidents, as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists, and teachers. They include 60 Nobel Laureates, 88 Pulitzer Prize winners, 75 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders across the private, public and non-profit sectors.