Eastern Michigan University has received more Fulbright Scholarships, a scholarship created to promote international education exchanges, than any other masters-level university for 2015-16. The Fulbright Scholarship is a program that was created by the State Department in 1946 and provides 8,000 scholarships per year.
While EMU’s scholars are all faculty, it is available for everyone from freshmen, to seniors, to doctoral candidates, to tenured professors. According to the Fulbright Organization, 3,600 recommendations a year to the program are received. Eastern has five of them: Leslie Atzmon, Wallace Bridges, Rebecca Martusewicz, William Sverdlik and Rosemary Weston Gil.
William Sverdlik, PhD, is a professor in the computer science department that will begin teaching in Namibia.
Sverdlik said that teaching overseas was the height of his professional life. In an emailed interview, Sverdlik explained why he chose Namibia, which gained independence in 1990.
“Think about the US at the same stage in its development: that was about the year 1800,” Sverdlik said. “There is much going on here as the country grows, and everyone here recognizes the importance of university education. Thus, coming to Namibia gives me an opportunity to have more of an impact than I had I visited an older country. A great opportunity.”
Leslie Atzmon is a professor of graphic design and design history in the art department. She will be traveling to the University of Arts in London to study graphic design.
“My project is about Darwin, who was British, and almost all of his materials are here,” Atzmon said.
Rosemary Weston Gil is going to the Franco-American Commission for Educational Exchange, to teach English as a foreign language while theater professor Wallace Bridges will be going to the University of Ghana for drama, theater and directing. Rebeca Martusewicz is going to study the foundations of education at Finland's University of Tampere.
Interim EMU Provost Rhonda Longworth praised the faculty awardees in a press release from university communications.
“For our students from Michigan, across the United States and from more than 50 foreign countries, this recognition reflects the world-class learning environment and the high quality teaching that takes place every day on the Eastern Michigan University campus,” Longworth said.
