UT-Austin Cranks Out Most Fulbright Scholars In Texas: Report

AUSTIN, TX — For the 11th consecutive year, The University of Texas at Austin is one of the top U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2019-2020 Fulbright U.S. students — ranking higher than any other research institution in Texas — officials revealed on Monday.

The status was announced by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, with The Chronicle of Higher Education publishing the lists annually.

The upshot: UT-Austin ranked as a top producer for both student and scholar awards, with 13 of its students and three scholars receiving Fulbright awards for academic year 2019-2020, officials said.

“Our consistent ranking as a top producer of Fulbright U.S. students demonstrates the steadfast commitment of our university, students and alumni to global education and engagement,” Sonia Feigenbaum, senior vice provost for global engagement and chief international officer, said in a prepared statement. “I am confident the 2019-2020 awardees will further the mission of Fulbright to promote education through cross-cultural exchange and serve as exemplary ambassadors for The University of Texas at Austin and the United States.”

More than 2,200 U.S. students and 900-plus U.S. college and university faculty members and administrators are awarded Fulbright grants annually. In addition, some 4,000 Fulbright foreign students and visiting scholars come to the U.S. annually to study, lecture, conduct research or teach their native language, school officials explained.

One such scholar is Shirin Khakoo, a neuroscience and anthropology alumna who conducted research in Germany on global refugee populations to improve the physical and emotional experiences of displaced people in the country through her 2019 Fulbright award.

“I am excited about the academic doors that receiving a Fulbright opens for me as an immigrant and a woman of color in academia,” Khakoo said in a prepared statement. “I hope to provide immigration lawyers with more information about physical trauma and its long-term neurobiological effects so that they can help advocate for people who truly need refuge from their native countries.”

The Fulbright Program was created to increase mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and those from other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 390,000 passionate and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to important international problems. The global network of Fulbrighters fosters mutual understanding between the U.S. and partner nations, advances knowledge across communities, and improves lives around the globe.

At UT Austin, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered by Texas Global. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit eca.state.gov/fulbright.