Melissa Bressler ’12 Receives Fulbright Award

Melissa Bressler '12 has received a U.S. Student Fulbright Award to Thailand for 2012-13. Bressler is an English and Business Administration double major and a Dana Scholar.

 Wednesday, March 28, 2012 09:58 AM

TheFulbright Program, the U.S. Government’s flagship international exchange program, is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program provides participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research.

The Fulbright Program is an important element of our country’s bilateral relationships in which the U.S. and foreign governments jointly set priorities for the exchanges. The majority of the funding is provided by the U.S. Congress. Partner governments, corporations, foundations and academic institutions also provide direct and indirect support.

The Fulbright Program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide and has provided approximately 310,000 participants with the opportunity to study, teach, or conduct research in each others’ countries and exchange ideas. Approximately 8,000 grants are awarded annually.

The Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which works with private non-profit organizations in the United States and with U.S. embassies and binational Fulbright Commissions abroad to administer the Program. Policy guidelines are established by the Presidentially-appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which also selects the recipients of Fulbright awards.