UA to compile list of living participants in Fulbright foreign exchange program

Kassandra Salazar (left) speaks Tuesday, April 5, 2016, to a group of 11th-grade students from Heritage High School in Rogers as they walk past Old Main while on a tour of the university campus in Fayetteville.
Kassandra Salazar (left) speaks Tuesday, April 5, 2016, to a group of 11th-grade students from Heritage High School in Rogers as they walk past Old Main while on a tour of the university campus in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- A list of living participants in the Fulbright foreign exchange program will be compiled as part of an agreement between the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, the university announced Wednesday.

U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright, who would represent Arkansas for 30 years, introduced legislation in 1945 that created the international educational exchange program named after him. The UA J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will work with the Fulbright board, the Fulbright Association and other schools to compile the list and also gather oral and visual histories from program participants.

"Inviting a network of Fulbright Scholars from around the globe to share their stories with the U of A for permanent retention in the Fulbright archives will be incredibly rewarding," Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said in a statement.

The agreement also establishes that J. William Fulbright papers and memorabilia held at UA will be recommended for viewing by new members of the Fulbright board, a 12-person group appointed by the U.S. president that currently includes Mark Pryor, a former U.S. Senator from Arkansas. The board is also pledging to try to hold a quarterly board meeting at UA at least once every three years.

"The expanded partnership between these two groups will strengthen the tie between the international 'Fulbright Family' and Senator Fulbright's namesake college, creating a new era of collaboration," Mark Waldrip, chair of the University of Arkansas board of trustees, said in a statement released by the university.

NW News on 11/15/2018

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