The Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology is an independent organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships that advance science and society. We want to help innovative ideas come to fruition by building ties, by supporting individual growth and by advocating for science and technology.

We are an international network of scientists, executives, and scholars. The Fulbright Academy was established by alumni of the Fulbright Exchange Program, and we invite you to join us. You can also recommend other individuals or institutions who should join the Fulbright Academy. We look forward to hearing from you.

President Bush has submitted his Fiscal Year 2007 Budget request to Congress which included $35.1 billion for international affairs, an 11% increase over the current year. This marked the fifth consecutive year that the Administration has called for increases in the International Affairs Budget. About 1.2% of the IA budget is for educational and cultural exchange programs – in FY06, Congress approved $426 million, while this year’s request is for $474 million. If approved as requested, the Fulbright Program and other scholarships as well as English language programming abroad, U.S. overseas educational advising centers, American overseas research centers, and U.S. Studies programs would receive $258 million. With the US population at 296 million, this is about 85 cents per person.

The budget request also proposes to double federal spending on research in the physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering over the next 10 years. Spending for the National Science Foundation would increase by 8%, to $6.02 billion in the 2007 fiscal year. There was, however, no increase in the FY07 proposed budget for the National Institutes of Health. NIH awards around 9,000 new grants/year and at $28.6 billion is the largest single source of academic research funding.

Looking at some smaller programs, the president requested $24 million for a new program in which colleges would receive grants to work with schools to improve the teaching of foreign languages that are considered "critical to US national security." It also adds $25 million to a $125 million program that offers grants to community colleges to train workers in science-related fields such as health care and information technology.

We are not discussing the program cuts in this newsletter - such as 42 programs in the Department of Education which are facing elimination. Many of those have been reported elsewhere.

The entire budget is $2.77 trillion. Roughly 84% of this is for interest, defense and homeland security, and entitlement programs such as Social Security. The remaining one-sixth is for everything else. (source: Chronicle of Higher Education & www.usgloballeadership.org)

Each year, the Fulbright Academy holds its annual meeting at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This year, we met in St. Louis, Missouri.

Our meeting was preceded by a public event - a career development workshop for AAAS meeting attendees and the general public. Over two dozen people attended the program. The presentations focused on (1) how to apply for a Fulbright and (2) how Fulbrights have influenced the professional development of scientists in academic and non-academic settings. Speakers came from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, Monsanto, Indiana University, and the University of Nebraska.

At the annual meeting, we reviewed our successes of the previous year and discussed plans for the future. 2005 was a turning point for the Academy because we switched from an all-volunteer model to an organization with paid staff. This switch was possible because of our growing number of members, several larger donations from individuals whose lives were completely changed by their Fulbright experience, and a small grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Looking toward the future, we expect continued growth in membership and additional meetings. We also have two research contracts - one on educating public audiences on the benefits of bacteria and one on clinical research ethics. This second project relates closely to an upcoming "Fulbright Brainstorm" being hosted by the Fulbright Commission in Portugal, "Governance in Biomedical Research: the Pharmaceutical Industry and its relation to Society, Academia and Government."

We are grateful to the members who traveled by car or plane for many hours in order to attend the meeting and the subsequent dinner at a local restaurant. Thank you.

The Fulbrighters in Science Conference was held in Berlin, with 140 registered participants from 25 countries.

Our program began with the Friday evening dinner for 40 at brew-pub in the center of Berlin. It was an evening of serendipity - identifying connections among people who had never previously met, be it similarities in research projects, university experiences, or cities where we have lived.

The program began in earnest on Saturday morning, with tours of the new European School of Management and Technology and the old Berlin Medical Historical Museum.

Our keynote speaker - Dr. Norman Neureiter from the American Association of the Advancement of Science - was unable to attend, but submitted a copy of his talk (see website). Happily, Dr. Tony Worby from Tasmania was able to give an excellent illustrated talk on Antarctica, Sea Ice, and Climate Change. The evening keynote speaker was Dr. Glenn Markoe of the Cincinnati Museum of Art - he described the multitude of technologies and disciplines used in conserving art and displaying it in museums.

On Saturday and Sunday afternoon, we had a total of seven panel discussions on Science policy, Teaching science (especially in K-12 classrooms), Basic engineering & science research, Science & international development, Medicine/Biology, Business & scientific innovation, and Internet for education. Many of the speakers used powerpoint to enhance their presentation, and copies of these powerpoints can be found on the website.

During the conference we collected some seven hours of video footage and conducting one-on-one interviews. This material will be used to make a DVD documentary about the conference and the impacts of the Fulbright program.

The U.S. Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) held a workshop in February on “Writing for Social Science Journals.” Done in collaboration with the Center for Advanced Study, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, M.S. University, Baroda, the four-day workshop strengthened the writing capacities of Indian social science researchers and college and university teachers. The program was led by US Fulbrighters Claudia Chang and Vinod Kool and Indian Fulbright alumni Shagufa Kapadia, Shyam Menon and Rachna Kulkarni.

The USEFI's Indo-American Environmental Leadership Program also organized its sixth regional workshop on “Water Saving Technologies” from February at Amritsar, Punjab. Done in conjunction with the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences at Guru Nanak Dev University, the workshop was attended by 35 participants, including three Indian IAELP scholars, two US IAELP scholars, three US Fulbright visiting lecturers and participants from South Asian countries of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.

The first conference of the Namibian-U.S. Alumni Association (NUSAA) was held in February, with over 100 participants discussing political issues such as democracy, economic growth, HIV/AIDS and education. The Namibian Prime Minister Nahas Angula received his Masters in Education from Columbia University, and Namibia's First Prime Minister Dr. Hage Geingob is an alumnus of Fordham University. Also in attendance were Dr. Joseph Diescho, a leading African scholar who received his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 1984 under a Fulbright scholarship, and Fulbrighter Dr. Charles Chata, who received his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Florida. Dr. Diescho, who knew Senator Fulbright personally, told alumni at the closing session that, "If the late Senators Humphrey and Fulbright walked in here they would be very heartened to see what we are doing to improve the affairs of the world."

The Swazi-American Fellowship Alumni Association (SWAFAA) and Malaysian-American Friendship Alumni Association (MAFAA) joined efforts to strengthen and expand their American alumni associations by holding a digital video conference this week. MAFAA shared its experience, strengths, and hopes with SWAFAA members who are in the early stages of creating their alumni organization. Laughter and camaraderie were shared between two American alumni associations from two continents in their undertaking of a common goal.

Two Fulbrighters in Honduras have risen to new government positions. Mr. Ricardo Antonio Alvarez Arias, Fulbright Student at the University of Miami in 1986, was sworn as the new Mayor of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and Ms. Gabriela Nuñez, Fulbright Student at the University of Albany in 1987 and recent presidential candidate in February 2005 primaries, was named President of the Central Bank in the new Honduran government. In a national newspaper, Ms. Nuñez was named as “Today’s Hero” for her comments regarding the need for exporters to look beyond monetary devaluations and low salaries to increase competitiveness.

US Fulbrighter Rosanna Brillantes will exhibit her film "Shamans of Siquijor: The Healers" at the Filpino American National Historical Society National Conference in Honolulu, HI in June 2006. The film follows three traditional healers on the Philippine island of Siquijor. With guidance from the supernatural world, healers cure illnesses using medicinal herbs, incantations, a magical prayer wheel, and other means.

U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States John Maisto is a Fulbrighter. Ambassador Maisto received a Masters in Latin American studies on a Fulbright fellowship to the University of San Carlos in 1961-62. USC is Guatemala's largest public university.

(Source: alumni.state.gov)

The Fulbright Academy is a non-profit membership-based organization that serves scientists, executives, and scholars worldwide. Our sponsors and supporters include institutional and individual members, Fulbright alumni groups and commissions, corporations/businesses, and foundations. If you would like information on becoming a supporter or institutional member, please send an email to info@FulbrightAcademy.org

After three years of operation, the Fulbright Academy has a growing membership base. By joining the Academy, you will be supporting our work - our conferences, the study committees, and our Fulbright Forums. You will receive invitations to special events, and we also help members link up with other Fulbrighters in their respective fields.

Individual memberships start at $60, with reduced rates available for students, retired individuals and those living in low- and middle-income countries.

Institutions in the US and elsewhere are collaborating with the Academy on several projects and programs. These collaborations typically are funded by a grant or contract from a foundation or agency. The first step is in this process typically is joining as an institutional member. Information on institutional memberships is available on our website.

The Fulbright Academy is not affiliated with the US State Department, the US Fulbright Association or the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. We are independently funded, and so your support is very important to us. We

As a fellow grantee of the program (Germany '89), I look forward to having you as a member and participant.

Sincerely,

Mr. Eric S. Howard, Executive Director