Washington and Lee named a top producer of Fulbright U.S. Scholars

Washington and Lee University has been named to the list of American colleges and universities that produced the most 2014-15 U.S. Fulbright Scholars.

Three scholars from W&L won Fulbright grants for 2014-15, making the university one of only six bachelor’s institutions nationwide to produce that many.

The Fulbright Program is the federal government’s flagship international education exchange program, sending more than 1,100 American professors, administrators, professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers and independent scholars to other countries to teach or conduct research each year.

All three of W&L’s Fulbright scholars this year are professors at the School of Law. Johanna Bond is studying access to legal aid in criminal proceedings in Africa while teaching a course in human rights at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Jill Fraley, is conducting research on the development of property law in colonial Scotland and Ireland at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. J.D. King spent fall 2014 studying the evolution of criminal defense in Chile at Universidad Viña del Mar in Chile.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 360,000 participants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar program operates in more than 125 countries around the world. It is funded by an annual Congressional appropriation to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in the U.S. and other countries also provide direct and indirect support. The Institute of International Education’s Council for International Exchange of Scholars administers and coordinates Fulbright activities on behalf of the Department of State, including selecting the scholars in the annual competition.

The Fulbright Program also awards grants to American college students and teachers to conduct research and teach overseas, while bringing some 4,000 students and scholars from other countries to the U.S. to study for graduate degrees, conduct research and teach languages.