Fulbright Forum.

This message is from the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology. We are expaning our list of contacts through participation in conferences, such as the recent NAFSA and the NSF meetings in Washington.

During the past several years, FAST has worked to strengthen the network of institutions involved in the Fulbright Academy - and the individual Fulbright alumni and scholars - creating networks around emerging issues of global concern, and making our knowledge and expertise available to others.  FAST is helping Fulbright scholars and institutions -“pioneers”- to advance creative thinking and problem-solving by linking them with new contacts, other forward-thinking individuals, and resources to move their work forward.  

Our activities are worldwide: Fort Lauderdale on July 9, Boston on August 14-15, Liverpool on September 9, Singapore on October 20-22, and Skopje, Macedonia in March 2009. We are also working with several alumni who will host summer programs in Los Angeles and Hamburg.

Earlier this month, FAST and the London School of Economics hosted an afternoon symposium on environmental security and climate change, with 20+ participants from the government and academia. If you would like to see a copy of the meeting report or participate in follow-up activities, please reply to this email.

Also this month, FAST was represented at the Gala Dinner at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington, DC, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Fulbright exchanges between the US and New Zealand. This year's 66 Fulbright New Zealand grantees include 27 New Zealand graduate students who will work in the US on topics such as population genetics of sperm whales, wireless communications technology, aircraft systems engineering,  textiles conservation and terrorism.

For our upcoming conference in Singapore, the US National Science Foundation is providing funding so that 18 Texans can attend the program - most are minority students who have never been abroad before. In 1991, there were only about 36,000 minority students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines at US schools - but today there are over 200,000. FAST looks forward to working with universities in the US and in other countries on enhancing educational opportunities for minority students.

The October 20-22 conference focuses on the Future of Cities - Creating Sustainable Urban Environments Through Innovation. We have some great speakers lined up - from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, USA, Canada, China, El Salvador... (click here for details). We still have openings for the poster session - reply to this email if you would like to participate or want us to invite your colleagues.

NEW & RENEWING INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS:

Also this month FAST was an exhibitor at the Association for International Educators conference-NAFSA. Over 9,000 people were at the conference. The Fulbright Commissions for Pakistan, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic were also exhibiting, and we met with staff from several other commissions. Our exhibit was part of our effort to increase our visibility and solicit institutional members from countries or states where we have not yet carried out programs. New and renewing members include: