Wilkes University seniors, graduate students and recent graduates may be eligible to apply for a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to study, conduct research or teach in over 140 countries. This program is only available to U.S. citizens.
Sponsored by the U.S. government, the program is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and other countries. The University’s Fulbright Program adviser will work with you to help you navigate the application process and help determine if the Fulbright experience is right for you.
The Fulbright program gives graduating seniors the opportunity of cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home and everyday life, allowing students to gain a rich appreciation of others’ world views and belief systems. The Fulbright program fosters an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity and intellectual freedom that promotes mutual understanding.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 380,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, professionals, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 59 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 82 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.
Undergraduate students and recent graduates apply to the U.S. Student Program. Two types of grants are available under the student program:
- English Teaching Assistance awards, which pair U.S. students with classroom teachers in another country;
- research and study awards for those seeking to do specific research or study in other countries.
Special program awards, such as the National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship and the Fulbright-Fogarty Award in Public Health, are also available to U.S. students.
- Graduating seniors and recent bachelor’s degree recipients who have some undergraduate preparation and/or direct work or internship experience related to the project;
- Master’s and doctoral candidates who demonstrate capacity for independent study or research, and who possess general knowledge of the history, culture and current events of the countries to which they are applying.
- Recent alumni of Wilkes are also eligible and are encouraged to apply.
The 2024-25 application cycle is now open! The national deadline for grant submission is Oct. 10, 2023. It is recommended that you declare your interest with Fulbright Program Adviser Gina Zanolini Morrison (gina.morrison@wilkes.edu) as soon as possible.
Summer workshops and individual conferences will help prepare you for the campus deadline of Sept. 1, 2023; those who complete this preliminary submission will be granted the opportunity to have an interview with the Fulbright Campus Committee, receive feedback, and “un-submit” their initial application to make final changes.
- Natalie Baur ’06 received a Fulbright scholarship to study digital preservation in Latin America.
- James Alfano ’15 received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to teach English in Taiwan.
- Michael A. Steele, PhD, professor of biology and H. Fenner Chair of Research Biology, received a Fulbright Fellowship in Mexico to study the interactions between oaks and their seed consumers.
- Gregory Harms, PhD, Associate Professor of Math, Physics and Computer Science, won a Fulbright in 1997/98 in Zurich, Switzerland, to investigate single-molecule fluorescence for the study of chemical polymers and biological molecule.
- Amy Kuiken, an adjunct professor who teaches French in the Division of Global Cultures while pursuing her EdD in Educational Leadership at Wilkes, won a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to teach English in 2007-08 in Bulgaria.
- Abel Adekola, PhD, Dean of the College of Business and Engineering, served as a Fulbright Scholar to Lithuania in 2006.
- Andree Catalfamo Myers, PhD, who graduated from Wilkes with an MFA Creative Writing, received a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct ESL/EFL teacher training to Master’s Degree students in Tirana, Albania.
- David Hicks, PhD, recently served as a Fulbright Scholar to the Czech Republic (2020 and 2022). Dr. Hicks is the Director of the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing.
- Cathy Lee Arcuino, PhD, Executive Director of Global Outreach, was selected to participate in the Fulbright International Educator Administrator Program to Japan in 2014.
- Gina Zanolini Morrison, PhD, Professor of Global Cultures, has received two Fulbright Specialist awards to conduct professional development for faculty and students in higher education in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2018-read her blog) and in Mumbai, India (2022).
Jen McLaughlin
Jen McLaughlin holds her MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University, and is currently pursuing her EdD from Wilkes University. She is the Assistant Director of the Honors & Scholars program and teaches creative writing-based First Year Foundations to Honors students, and other various students of all ages.
Anthony Kapolka
With graduate degrees in Computer Science, Divinity, and Creative Writing, Dr. M. Anthony Kapolka has taught over 30 distinct courses at Wilkes, including six different multidisciplinary first year foundation courses. He presently serves as the University's FYF Director. His current academic research is cross-disciplinary, applying data science methods to a corpus of Jesus Novels, exploring how narrative form follows narrative function.
Paul Riggs
Dr. Paul Riggs, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, joined Wilkes University with over 20 years of experience in higher education as a professor of history, department head, and associate dean at Valdosta State University. He also served in the president’s office at Dickinson College. A native of Ambler, PA, Dr. Riggs graduated with an MA from Dickinson College and PhD in history from the University of Pittsburgh, where he has also taught.
Andreea Maierean
Dr. Andreea Maierean is an associate professor of Political Science with a PhD in Political Science from Boston University. She previously studied in Bucharest, Romania, at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration; in Trieste, Italy, at the University of Trieste; in Budapest, Hungary, at Central European University; and in Vienna, Austria, at the Institute for Human Sciences. Her research and teaching interests include post-communist transitions to democracy, transitional justice and environmental policy.
Sean Kelly
Dr. Sean J. Kelly is a Professor of English whose primary areas of specialization include 19th century American literature, African American literature, critical theory, and composition. His scholarly articles have appeared in The Edgar Allan Poe Review, Angelaki, and Papers on Language and Literature.
Philip Simon
Dr. Philip G. Simon, Associate Professor Emeritus of Music, has conducted professional, collegiate and high school bands and orchestras in seven U.S. states and the United Kingdom. He is a published arranger and composer, and performs in the Northeastern PA region on tuba, string bass and bass guitar. He received the Wilkes University Multiculturalism Award and the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 9 Citation of Excellence.
Gregory S. Harms
Gregory S. Harms, PhD, Associate Professor of Physics and Biology, received a Fulbright/Swiss Government Scholarship in 1997 and 1998 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The scholarship enabled him to investigate single-molecule fluorescence for the study of chemical polymers and biological molecules in the laboratory of Professor Urs P. Wild.
Heather Sincavage
Director of the Sordoni Art Gallery, Heather Sincavage, is an Associate Professor of Integrative Media at Wilkes University. She received her BFA from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, and her MFA from School of Art, University of Washington, Seattle. As an interdisciplinary artist whose practice is rooted in performance art but also includes drawing, sculpture, and installation, she has exhibited internationally in over 40 solo and group exhibitions across the U.S., and in Germany, Spain, Sweden, Finland. and Iceland.
HyeRyeon Lee
Dr. HyeRyeon Lee is an associate professor of Hospitality Leadership. With a Doctoral degree in Hospitality Administration from Texas Tech University, her research interests are hospitality and tourism information technology, tourism and lodging management, marketing, and human resource management. She has various experiences in the hospitality and tourism industry. She worked as a researcher at Leisure Research Institution to study tourism research, at the Overton Hotel and Conference Center, and at the More Tour Company.
Mark Allen
As Associate Vice President for Student Life and Success, Dr. Mark Allen serves as liaison between students and faculty; directs the administration of Counseling, Health Services and Residence Life; and is responsible for the development and implementation of policies and programs related to student life. With a PhD in Leadership and Change, Dr. Allen teaches leadership for the Sidhu School of Business and First-Year Foundations and has led leadership courses to Thailand.
Blake Mackesy
Associate Provost Dr. Blake Mackesy joined Wilkes University in 2003 to serve in various roles involving academic advising, career development, disability services, academic success and support programs, orientation, and First Year Experience. In 2014, she joined the faculty and today is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership. Her research interests involve self-efficacy and other non-cognitive factors for promoting student success, academic advising theory and practice, faculty mentoring, and education policy. Dr. Mackesy was a fellow with the Pennsylvania Education Policy and Leadership Center.
Evene Estwick
Dr. Evene Estwick is an Associate Professor and the Department Chair of Communication Studies whose teaching and research interests include international media, globalization and the media, Caribbean media and developmental and international communication. Originally from Barbados, Dr. Estwick has served as faculty advisor for study abroad and community service trips to Turkey, Peru, Dominican Republic, Belize, and Tanzania.
Michael Steele
Fulbright alum Michael Steele, Professor of Biology and Chair of Research Biology, is one of the world's foremost authorities on oak seed dispersal and tree squirrels. He recently published his latest book, "Oak Seed Dispersal," which draws on three decades of global research in the United States, Mexico, Central America, Europe and China to describe the interactions between oaks and their seed consumers. Dr. Steele received an OPUS Award, one of the National Science Foundation's most prestigious grants, to write the book--the first faculty member at a small liberal arts university to receive the honor.
David Hicks
Dr. David Hicks, Fulbright Scholar (Czech Republic, 2020 and 2022) and Director of the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing, joined Wilkes after twenty years as a professor of American Literature at Regis University in Denver, CO, where he also co-founded and directed their MFA in Creative Writing. Dr. Hicks, who earned his PhD at NYU, also writes novels. Find out more about Novels written by David Hicks.
Amy Kuiken
Amy Kuiken (Bulgaria, 2007-08, ETA) joined the Wilkes community as an adjunct language instructor, for which she received the 2017 Innovative and Non-Traditional Teaching Award. Focusing now on her studies in the Wilkes’ Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership, she continues her ESL research while working with resettled families in the U.S. She and her husband have created an educational partnership with Tanzania, which was published in the journal Philosophical Studies in Education. She presented on Bulgarian and American classroom cultures at the 9th Fulbright International Conference in Bulgaria.
Linda Winkler
Dr. Linda Winkler is a Professor of Anthropology whose academic background is multidisciplinary, with a BA from a liberal arts college, and an MA and PhD in Anthropology (Biological). Her current academic interests concern global and community health, global collaboration, and developing broader global perspectives for university students in the United States. Her most recent project involves assessing maternal and infant mortality and related factors in rural Tanzania.
Cathy Lee Arcuino
As Executive Director of Global Outreach, Dr. Cathy Lee Arcuino is in charge of international student recruitment and admissions, study abroad, and campus internationalization. Her background includes years of volunteer work and/or teaching English abroad in Kazakhstan, Japan, Poland, Thailand, and Kyrgyzstan. With a PhD in education and human resource studies, Dr. Arcuino participated in the Fulbright International Educator Administrator Program to Japan (2014).
Lisa Kadlec
Dr. Lisa Kadlec is a Professor of Biology with a specialization in genetics. Her current research includes gene expression, the biological function of target genes using tissue-specific RNA interference, and an evolutionary comparison of Drosophila dot chromosomes. She has been recognized for her commitment to the mentorship of her students by involving them in ongoing research projects, papers, and presentations.
Anu Ghai
Dr. Anu Ghai teaches auditing, fraud examination, and the first-year course in entrepreneurship/integrated management experience. A strong believer in experiential learning, Dr. Ghai has spent time with her students in Honduras, New Orleans, and Kentucky on economic development pursuits such as fraud examination and detection, blockchain, auditing, governance, farm-to-table food, community engagement and foreign travel.