Under the Microscope / Prof William Reville: One of the most interesting and useful things I did in my life was to spend three years doing postdoctoral research in America during the 1970s. This was how I first came to know of the Fulbright international scholar exchange programme, which provided financial assistance and fellowship to me.
The aim of the Fulbright Programme is to increase mutual respect and understanding between the peoples of the US and other countries through educational and cultural exchanges. The programme was established in 1945 under legislation sponsored by Senator J William Fulbright (1905-1995) of Arkansas. His vision was to build an alternative to armed conflict by providing a structured network for dialogue and exchange between individuals and cultures. This mission remains just as relevant today.
In 1946, the Fulbright Programme involved about 100 scholars. Today the Programme operates in more than 140 countries and about 255,000 individuals - 96,400 from the US and 158,000 from other countries - have participated in it. These "Fulbrighters" have been drawn from government, media, arts and the academic community worldwide. About 4,500 new grants are awarded annually. Selection is through open competition and based on academic or professional qualifications, leadership potential and a willingness to share ideas and experiences with people of diverse cultures.
The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Programme is an annual appropriation by the US Congress - $131.5 million in 2004. Foreign governments contribute another $31.5 million directly to the Fulbright Programme and more through indirect support. Fulbright alumni include Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, governors, ambassadors, artists, heads of state, professors and scientists, supreme court justices and chief executives - eg Boutros Boutros Ghali, Umberto Eco and Javier Salana.
The Fulbright Programme provides a great opportunity for Irish scholars not only to widen and deepen their scholarship in a well-equipped American institution but also to become familiar with American culture and to make lasting friendships. I still maintain many of the contacts I made in America in the 1970s and my great American friend Mike has just returned home to Nebraska after spending two weeks visiting us at UCC.
James William Fulbright obtained a BA from the University of Arkansas in 1925 and later studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1934 he was admitted to the bar in Washington DC and worked in the Department of Justice. From 1939 to 1941 Fulbright was president of the University of Arkansas and in 1942 he was elected to the House of Representatives. In 1944 he was elected to the US Senate and served there until 1974. In 1949 he became a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was the longest serving chairman from 1959 to 1974.
Fulbright's Senate career was marked by some notable dissent. He opposed Senator Joseph McCarthy's Committee on Un-American Activities and he voiced serious objections to John F Kennedy's impending Bay of Pigs invasion. In 1966 he published The Arrogance of Power in which he criticised the Vietnam War, Congress's failure to limit it, and the deeper impulses which lay behind it. This weakened the consensus that US intervention was necessitated by Cold War geopolitics.
The Fulbright Programme has been operating in Ireland since 1957 and is the only official educational exchange programme between the governments of the United States and Ireland. To date, more than 800 Irish people have been awarded Fulbright grants while around 600 US students and scholars have come to Ireland under the programme.
The Fulbright Programme is administered by the Ireland-US Fulbright Commission, Brooklawn House, Shelbourne Road, Dublin (01-6607670). The Commission finances study, research, teaching and other educational activities between Ireland and the United States. The Commission has eight members, four Irish citizens and four US citizens appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the US Ambassador.
The Commission's Annual Awards Programme is open to postgraduate students and postdoctoral scholars and professionals who wish to study, research or lecture in a recognised college in the United States. Applications are invited from candidates in any academic discipline and from visual and performing artists. Applicants must be in a position to outline a clearly defined course of study or research and must obtain their own placements in the US. Around 16-18 awards are made annually.
A similar annual awards programme operates for US postgraduate students and US academics to study, research and lecture in Irish colleges. About 15 American students and scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines come to colleges throughout Ireland each year. Profiles of Irish and US award-winners are on the Commission's website: www.fulbright.ie.
The Irish Fulbright Alumni Association (IFAA) plays a key role in befriending and supporting American Fulbrighters in Ireland. If you have benefited from a Fulbright Award and are not a member of IFAA, I invite you to join us. I am currently president of IFAA. You can telephone me at 021-4904127.
William Reville is associate professor of biochemistry and director of microscopy at UCC