The
Fulbright Program is an international educational
exchange program established in 1946 under legislation introduced
by the late Senator J. William Fulbright. Its purpose is to
increase mutual understanding and peaceful relations between
the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
The Fulbright program emphasizes scholarly interchange and
academic excellence with awards based on open competition.
The original legislation establishing what eventually became
known as the Fulbright Program was signed into law by President
Truman on August 1, 1946. At that time, then-Senator J. William
Fulbright saw a world devastated by war and awed by its newly
acquired atomic power. Remembering his own overseas experience
as a Rhodes Scholar, the young Senator reasoned that people
and nations had to learn to think globally if the world was
to avoid annihilation. He believed that if large numbers of
people lived and studied in other countries, "they might
develop a capacity for empathy, a distaste for killing other
men, and an inclination for peace."
In more than 50 years, the Fulbright Program
has enabled nearly a quarter of a million people from the
United States and 140 other countries to live and study in
another country. More than 120,000 foreign nationals have
taught, studied or done research in the US, and more than
90,000 Americans have gone overseas to do the same.
Although the Commission for Educational Exchange
between the United States and Nepal was established in 1961,
the first Fulbright Scholarships were awarded to Nepalis and
to Americans to go to Nepal in the 1950s. Since that time,
more than 500 Nepalis have studied, done research or taught
in the US under Commission auspices, and more than 300 Americans
have come to Nepal to teach and conduct research. The Fulbright
Program supports graduate study and post-doctoral research
in the US for Nepali junior and senior scholars. The program
also funds American students and professors to do research
or lecture at universities in Nepal. Annually, the Fulbright
Commission sponsors 8-10 American Fulbrighters and sends about
an equal number of Nepali grantees to the US.
Grantees are selected on the basis of their
academic excellence, professional qualifications and potential
in a wide range of disciplines and specializations. Binational
members of the Nepal Commission's Selection Review Committees
select grantees through a stringent selection procedure continuing
over more than a year and involving several stages of screening,
evaluation interviews and counseling.
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