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Fulbright scholars Noma Chingandu of Zimbabwe
and Danny Humphreys of Costa Rica. Both are studying plant pathology. |
This year 17 new Fulbright scholars are studying at WSU from home countries ranging from Costa Rica to Zimbabwe. That brings the number of Fulbright scholars across the WSU system to 25, the most in recent memory.
Seven of those new scholars entered doctoral programs in fields including economics, chemistry, biological systems engineering, sociology, food science, plant pathology, and environmental and natural resource science. In all, there are 12 doctoral students and 13 masters students, but some of the masters students may decide to continue in a doctoral program.
Pat Sturko, associate dean of the Graduate School, said the program has been growing steadily for the past five years.
“We’re making a very focused effort to attract Fulbright scholars,” she said. “These are top students from around the world. They are the cream of the crop.”
Sturko said WSU’s recruitment of Fulbright scholars is a collaborative effort involving the Graduate School and deans and department chairs across campus. In addition to being explicit about WSU’s commitment to the program and willingness to provide tuition waivers, Sturko also contacts Fulbright program officers to make sure they are aware of WSU’s expedited application process.
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Fulbright fellows and scholars past, present – and future – are invited to a forum at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, in the Honors Hall lounge to share experiences and learn more about the Fulbright Scholars Program.
Fulbright Ambassador Mushtaq Memon, an associate professor of clinical veterinary science at WSU, will moderate a panel discussion that includes Mary Wack, dean of University College and vice president for Undergraduate Education; J. Daniel Dolan, professor of engineering; and Yessenia Picha, Fulbright graduate student from Peru. Wack was a Fulbright participant in Germany in 1976 and Dolan received a Fulbright award to study and teach in Chile in 2008.
Memon, who completed a Fulbright fellowship at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman in 2006-2007, is among a select group of Fulbright alumni to become ambassadors for the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), which administers the Fulbright Scholars Program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State.
“We want to see these Fulbright scholars at WSU,” Memon said, adding that they bring a wealth of experiences with them, help elevate the reputation of the university, and add to WSU’s global engagement. “The program fits in so many different ways,” he said.
Sarah Ann Hones, director of distinguished scholarships at WSU, said the panel discussion will be a great opportunity for people who might be considering applying for the program. Part of the excitement about Fulbrights, she said, is that the benefits last a lifetime. On Wednesday, students and faculty will be able to hear stories of life-changing experiences from former and current Fulbright participants.
The 2010-2011 Fulbright program has provided more than 800 participants with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research in 155 countries.
Find registration information here. |
When the Graduate School receives an application, she said, it is immediately processed and forwarded to the appropriate department with a request that the department consider the application and make a determination as soon as possible.
“We’ve gotten great response from the faculty,” she said.
Since Fulbright scholars typically apply to several programs, Sturko said she encourages faculty to contact program officers and follow up with the students themselves when possible.
“They come with a nice funding package,” Sturko said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to have a quality graduate student that is fully funded.”
Plant pathology, already one of the largest graduate plant pathology programs in the country, gained two new Fulbright scholars this year.
“Both of these students could have gone anywhere,” said Hanu Pappu, department chair and the President Sam Smith distinguished professor in plant virology. “Plant pathology faculty have been highly successful in obtaining external competitive grant funding and were able to attract high caliber graduate students into the department,” he said. “This success is due to a very productive partnership with and support from the CAHNRS administration and the Graduate School.”
In 2008, he said, plant pathology had 17 doctoral students. This semester there are 29, with two more expected in January.
The program is culturally diverse, he said, but adding Fulbright scholars makes the level of research and global engagement that much richer.
“Threats to crop production and food security issues that our faculty work on have global relevance,” he said, and the students who apply to the Fulbright program have very specific plans for what they want to study and why they want to study it.
Noma Chingandu of Harare, Zimbabwe, said she is pursuing a graduate degree in plant molecular biology to help find answers to global food shortages. Chingandu said her course work has been challenging, but people in her department have been very welcoming.
“They showed me everything I needed,” she said.
Danny Humphreys is the other new Fulbright scholar in the plant pathology department. He’s working in the lab of assistant professor Axel Elling. Humphreys said he did an extensive search to figure out who the top people in the field are, and was pleased when he found Elling.
“He’s the new generation of nematologists,” Humphreys said. “The department is kind of famous.” And he was even more pleased when Elling called to talk with him.
“I was in my home country and he called and we just started to talk,” he said. Now that he’s here, they talk in the lab. “He’s always in the lab and that’s really important because we want to learn,” Humphreys said.
Yessenia Picha is also a first-year Fulbright graduate student. According to her mentor, Mushtaq Memon, coordinator of the global animal health pathway in the School for Global Animal Health, Picha is the first female veterinarian from Peru doing graduate work in the United States.
Memon said he first met Picha in 2007 when came to Pullman at her own expense to learn more about veterinary science by studying with Ahmed Tibary, a professor of veterinary clinical science, for several months. Picha said her dream was to return to the United States for graduate work, Memon said, but she lacked the funding to do so. Impressed by her hard work and capabilities, Memon said he encouraged her to apply for the Fulbright.
Memon, who is WSU’s Fulbright ambassador, said the Fulbright program even provided funding for Picha to complete an intensive English language program in Pullman before starting her graduate work this fall.
“I feel very proud to be a part of creating opportunities for female students from developing countries who have limited educational opportunities in their own homelands,” Memon wrote in an e-mail. “I am confident that Yessenia will serve as a role model for the next generation of female veterinarians and animal scientists in Peru.”