Bielasiak Johnston Hanson Beckwith

Jack Bielasiak, professor of political science, and Ken Johnston, professor emeritus of English, are Fulbright Scholar grant recipients. Bielasiak has been named Distinguished Chair in East European studies at the University of Warsaw, Poland, and Johnston will lecture and conduct research at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

John Hanson, professor of history and director of the African Studies Program, and Christopher Beckwith, professor of Central Eurasian studies, are recipients of Fulbright-Hays grants for doctoral dissertation or faculty research abroad. Hanson will be working in Ghana and Beckwith in Japan.

Additionally, 10 IUB students have been named U.S. Fulbright Scholars and will do graduate study or research overseas, placing the campus in an 11th-place tie for total number of awards among U.S. research universities and fifth place among Midwestern colleges and universities.

Three IUB students were recipients of the Fulbright-Hays grants for doctoral dissertation or faculty research abroad.

IU will host 11 Fulbright scholars from foreign countries in 2004-05. The visiting grantees represent the countries of Croatia, France, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mali, Spain, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

“IU has been fortunate in the many prestigious Fulbright grants awarded to our students and faculty over the years,” said Patrick O’Meara, dean for international programs at IU. “We are in an elite group of major U.S. universities in terms of the number of recipients. They have done important and innovative research or teaching in countries all over the world and have been great ambassadors for the values of Sen. William Fulbright. Their presence abroad has never been more important given current world conditions and the need for building mutual trust and cultural understanding through education.”

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program, named for the late Sen. J. William Fulbright, has provided thousands of American scholars and professionals with the opportunity to observe each others’ political, economic and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and embark on joint ventures of importance to the world’s inhabitants.

The Fulbright awards are sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, which is sponsoring International Education Week Nov. 15-19. (See today’s Web mastery column for details.)