The Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (FAST) is an international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging Fulbright scholars and other leaders in partnerships that advance science and society. Membership is open to Fulbright scholars, hosts and friends and to institutions having an interest in our work.

Harvard University’s most successful drop-out gave the commencement address earlier this month. The world’s richest man, Bill Gates, spoke about his current goal - using philanthropy as a catalyst for reducing inequities in health, wealth and education. Gates said, “Humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.”

So it isn’t just the discovery or the innovative idea – it’s the implementation. This concept resonates well for the Fulbright Academy.

In the newest FAST video, “FAST is a Blast: Realize the Dream,” we note the immense value of the Fulbright resource and the talents which can be tapped to get the innovative ideas applied in the real world. Board member Louise Shaxson of the UK says, “When you support the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology, what you are getting is an incredibly committed, very experienced, and very diverse group of scientists, all whom share a commitment to rigor, a commitment to cross-cultural understanding. .... the ability to draw from a massive international intellectual base to bear on one particular problem.”

Filmed on location in Panama during our 2007 Annual Conference, the video includes comments from board members and conference attendees, including Sir Harold Kroto – Nobel Prize winning chemist at Florida State University, Dr. Tanja Popovic – the chief scientist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Mr. Philip Yeo – the Chairman of Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR).

“Design for the Other 90%” is an exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in NYC until September 23. This exhibition highlights the work of designers to create affordable and socially responsible objects for the 90% of the world's population not traditionally serviced by professional designers. It is divided into sections focusing on water, shelter, health and sanitation, education, energy and transportation and highlights objects developed to empower global populations surviving under the poverty level or recovering from a natural disaster. The exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt was made possible by one of FAST's institutional members, the Lemelson Foundation.

FAST will be highlighting a wide variety of ideas and solutions from the Fulbright Community at our upcoming conference in Boston on February 14-17, 2008 (Thurs-Sun). The proposed theme for the conference is Energy & Innovation.

The conference will explore both meanings of the term "Energy" - (1) the energy and intellectual capacity of Fulbright scholars to innovate and make changes in many different scientific fields, and (2) the work of Fulbright scholars in the field of energy, such as innovations in electricity production, transportation and issues relating to climate change.

To propose a panel for the conference, please submit a proposal (the topic, the names of likely speakers and potential sources for travel funds - if known) to FAST no later than August 1, 2007. As always, our programs not limited to Fulbright scholars; anyone may propose a panel or participate in the program.

An “Entrepreneurs Challenge” has been proposed for inclusion in the conference. This business plan competition will recognize and reward the best ideas. The proposed challenge has two categories. The "Business Plan Competition" is for science and technology-related plans that have a targeted addressable market. The "Entrepreneurship for Development Challenge" is focused on plans for lower-income communities in developed and developing countries. These plans will be judged on their potential for sustainable social impact in addition to profitability. These organizations can have charters that are either non-profit or for profit, and can be formed around a technology/product or a mission statement/business model.

Representing a key segment of FAST supporters, the institutional members provide a unique forum for the business sector, the academic and NGO communities, and the government to discuss international innovation, scientific cooperation and exchange. Representatives from these institutions receive discounts and invitations to participate in exclusive meetings with leading Fulbright scholars, scientists and executives. Institutional members also receive special bulletins and recognition at our events.

This issue highlights five new institutional members – all are colleges or universities (the institutional category also includes corporations, foundations, government agencies, non-profit organizations and professional associations). Our goal is to have at least 50 institutional members by the end of the year, and we are well on track toward meeting that goal. The full list these members, along with links to the institutional members’ webpages, can be found by clicking on the link below.

Barbados Community College is located near Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. The head of the college, Gladstone Best, is one of some 200 citizens of Barbados who have been Fulbright Scholars. An attendee at the FAST conference in Panama, he studied education administration while on a Fulbright to the University of Louisville, Kentucky in 1989. Barbados Community College has several divisions which provide education and training to develop the human resources of this Caribbean island nation of 280,000 people. The Health Division, for example, offers associate degree programs to train pharmacists, medical laboratory technologists, nurses, environmental health inspectors, rehabilitation therapist and health information managers. The college also trains technicians to assist architects, building and construction engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers and land surveyors, and it also offers majors in accounting, economics, law, and government and political studies.

Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, is home to nine major academic divisions, numerous centers for advanced study, and a host of prestigious affiliated institutions. In addition to Emory College, the University encompasses a graduate school of arts and sciences; professional schools of medicine, theology, law, nursing, public health, and business. Founded by the Methodist Church in 1836, the University currently has 11,300 students and 2,500 faculty members from all regions of the United States and more than 100 foreign nations. The website for Emory’s Office of International Affairs lists some fifty Emory faculty members who have received Fulbright scholarships. Emory joined FAST at the suggestion of Dr. Howard Hunter, the President of Singapore Management University (and former Provost of Emory).

Georgia Institute of Technology (also known as Georgia Tech) is one of America’s top research universities focusing on engineering and advanced science and technology. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, it has more than 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Within Georgia Tech, there are six colleges: the Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Management, Liberal Arts, and Sciences. In addition to the colleges, The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research arm of the Institute. It performs or supports more than $100 million in research yearly for more than 200 clients in industry and government. Georgia Tech also has research and teaching campuses in Singapore, Shanghai and Metz, France.

Lincoln University of Pennsylvania is a historically black college or university (HBCU) headed by Dr Ivory Nelson, a Fulbright scholar and chemist by training. Founded in 1854 as the Ashmun Institute, it was renamed Lincoln University in 1866 following the assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln. It enrolls some 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students; the undergraduate program in arts and sciences lead to baccalaureate degrees in 46 academic majors. The university has six pre-professional programs in dentistry, engineering, law, medicine, nursing, and veterinary science. There are also six graduate degree programs in human services, reading, education, mathematics, administration, and school administration. The first student from Lincoln to be awarded a Fulbright graduated last month: a native of Connecticut, Lamonte Aidoo will be going to Colombia, South America.

Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (Autonomous University of the Yucatán) in Merida, Mexico is a full-fledged liberal arts university with 25 different Bachelor of Arts programs as well as advanced programs. One of Mexico’s older universities, it offers degrees in the social sciences, natural sciences, life sciences, mathematics, engineering, architecture, and medicine and dentistry. The enrollment is approximately 15,000 students, the vast majority of them from the Yucatán, but the university also has student exchanges with several US universities. The science faculty at UAY are involved in numerous international research collaborations.

Would your university or organization be interested in being part of a joint booth at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)? This meeting on February 14-18, 2007 will attract some 6,000 scientists from around the world, plus 1,000 journalists and several thousand scientifically literate visitors.

Each year, there are at least 100 exhibitors – government agencies, universities/academic consortiums, corporations and publishers. Several of our members have expressed interest in having one or two joint booths at the meeting. The goal of the booth would be to promote the research, the work, and the opportunities available through that member. By sending just one staff person, you can have full representation during the entire five-day meeting.

The current plan is that one booth would be for institutions or individuals working in the field of medicine, public health and nursing. If there is demand, a second booth could be for institutions in other scientific disciplines. For details, please contact Eric Howard.

The Academy’s newly established International Advisory Council (IAC) has a mission of helping FAST build ties with individuals and institutions worldwide. The IAC offers counsel to FAST on direction, focus and future, and council members will also promote our mission and enhance our public image through communication, advocacy, and support. Council members are nominated by FAST members. The Board reviews the candidates and appoints members, taking care to assure that the IAC membership reflects the diversity of the Academy’s members, stakeholders and interest groups.

The directors are currently seeking nominations – with a particular focus on Fulbright scholars with non-US nationality and professionals from the business and government sectors. This next set of council members will be appointed in August so that they can attend the Board retreat in October. The first eight council members are listed below, and their full bios can be found on our website.

• Dr. Dennis Anderson - Associate Dean and Professor at Pace University. • Dr. Lynn Clark Callister - Professor of Nursing at Brigham Young University. • Dr. Gautam Dasgupta - Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. • Mrs. Harriet Fulbright - President of the J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center. • Dr. Tschangho John Kim - Professor of Urban and Regional Systems at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). • Mr. Chi Lee - Morgan Stanley, Fixed Income Division, London, UK. • Dr. Khalid Riffi Temsamani – National Coordinator for Materials Sciences & Professor of Electrochemistry at the Faculty of Sciences of Tetouan, University Abdelmalek Essaadi, Morocco. • Mr. Mark Vlasic, Esq. - White House Fellow working in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense.

Haider Hamza Abdulrazaq is a young Fulbright Scholar from Iraq. This summer, Haider is traveling the US with a mobile booth and a sign that says 'Come Talk to an Iraqi.' He received a lot of press coverage on his trip through the South, and several stops will be taped and broadcast on NPR and on Showtime through the program 'This American Life'.

“I’ve been arrested, shot at, held captive, and I’ve lost a lot of friends and family. I wanted to stay in Iraq but I also wanted to live. At some point I realized that it is more important to live for a cause than to die for one … [on the internet] I saw a quote of Senator Fulbright’s saying that war can be prevented by education and understanding of each other. I couldn’t agree more, and after reading his words I decided to apply [for a Fulbright].”

On the first part of the trip – NYC to San Francisco - he was accompanied by a 70 year-old retired nurse and divorced mother from NYC and her dog 'Cloudie.' They met in NYC, where Haider has just completed his first year as a Fulbright Scholar at the New School University, working toward a Master’s Degree in International Affairs, focusing on Global Security and Conflict.

Prior to coming to the US on a Fulbright, Haider worked as a war-zone journalist covering the conflict in Iraq. He was embedded with U.S. military units covering combat operations. He also covered Iraqi civilians and armed resistance as a freelance journalist, and worked for Reuters and ABC news, among other news organizations.

He arrived to JFK last September. “At first I would just walk from 6 at night to 6 in the morning in the streets of the city, because in Iraq there has been a daily curfew and I hadn’t been out after sunset for nearly four years.”

During his trip, Haider would like to meet with others people affiliated with the Fulbright program. Over the next few weeks, he will be moving east - through Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming. If you or your community/ institution would like to host him, he can be reached at haidoori_h@hotmail.com.

The Fulbright Academy was started in 2003 by people like you. We have individual and institutional members in some 50 countries and nearly every US state.

Many Fulbrighters are in interesting positions in government, industry and academia. We would like to hear from institutions and Fulbright scholars to see what role our organization can play in the international policy arena. We also would like to share your news with others in the Fulbright community.

FAST is a non-profit 501-c-3 membership-based organization that serves scientists, executives, and scholars worldwide. The Fulbright Academy is not affiliated with the US State Department, the US Fulbright Association or the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Our sponsors and supporters include individual and institutional members such as universities, corporations, government agencies and foundations.