What do 33 heads of state, 54 Nobel Prize recipients and 82 Pulitzer Prize winners have in common?
Before they went on to fame, fortune or power, they were Fulbright Scholars.
What does this have to do with Alabama?
It has just come to light that the University of Alabama has a particular knack for producing Fulbright Award recipients.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Alabama has one of the best success ratios of Fulbright award winners in the nation, with eleven of the 30 applicants receiving the award. Ten UA graduates won awards as teaching assistants and one graduate received a Fulbright research award.
The Fulbright US Student Program gives grants to students for independent study, research projects, and English teaching assistantships overseas. The program is highly competitive, with just 1,500 students receiving awards each year.
“It is an honor for UA to be listed as a top producer in the U.S. Student Fulbright competition,” said Dr. Teresa Wise, associate provost for international education and global outreach. “The Fulbright Program provides life-changing opportunities and experiences for our students.”
The Alabama Fulbright program has partnered with the Capstone International Center and the Global Café Program in the Center for Community-Based Partnerships, which is an initiative of the Division of Community Affairs. This partnership has resulted in an increase in the number of Alabama Fulbright recipients.
“Our success in placing students in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program demonstrates the far-reaching international scope of our excellent academic programs and the high value of a University of Alabama education,” said Dr. Kevin Whitaker, UA interim provost. “We continue to take pride in the many excellent and promising young people who choose UA for their academic studies.”
Harvard University has the highest number Fulbright students with 31, followed by Michigan (29), Northwestern (26), and Yale (26). The University of Alabama is the only SEC school to be considered a “top producer” of Fulbright scholars. Alabama also has a higher success ratio (11 winners out of 30 applications, 37% success) than Harvard (31winers out of 139 applications, 22% success)
The Alabama Fulbright winners are currently serving abroad on three continents, from Peru and Brazil in South America, to France, Spain and the Czech Republic in Europe, to Turkey and Malaysia in Asia.
