Conducting research on nonviolence and public policy. Creating a video documentary. Lecturing on language and engineering. Attending a seminar on international exchanges.

These are just a few of the assignments undertaken by SUNY’s latest Fulbright Scholars and UUP members.

These talented scholars travel around the globe to gather information and to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for learning. They represent the full range of campuses, from the university centers to the technology colleges, and epitomize the characteristics of people dedicated to teaching at a public university.

The Fulbright Program was founded in 1946 by Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. Its goal is to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through the exchange of people, knowledge and skills.

In 2006, SUNY sent more Fulbright Scholars abroad than any other New York public or private higher ed institution.

“Academic excellence is not a new concept for SUNY or for UUP,” said statewide Vice President for Academics Frederick Floss. “Our committed faculty have long proven themselves as talented individuals dedicated to scholarly pursuits, top-notch teaching and community service here and abroad.”

Below is a quick glimpse at some of the scholars who follow a long tradition of UUPers participating in the prestigious and highly competitive Fulbright Program:

• Elizabeth Barnum of SUNY Stony Brook, director of International Services, used her second Fulbright award to attend a seminar in Germany on how member unions of the European Union are adapting to a centrally operated, unified higher education system.

• Stuart Chen of SUNY Buffalo, an associate professor in the department of civil, structural and environmental engineering, traveled to Turkey to lecture on developments in bridge engineering design and construction at Istanbul Technical University.

• Theodore Endreny of ESF, an assistant professor in environmental resources engineering, was in Cyprus to research and lecture on stormwater engineering for conservation.

• Leslie Gates of Binghamton, an assistant professor of sociology, traveled to Venezuela to study public policy as it relates to market-oriented reforms. She did her research at the country’s main public and private universities, both located in the capital city of Caracas.

• Vinod Kool, a professor of psychology at SUNYIT, used his second Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research on the social psychology of nonviolence in India.

• Charles Rougle of Albany, an associate professor of Slavic and Eurasian studies, traveled to Moscow to teach courses in Russian-English translation to students attending the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Moscow State University.

• Bruce Simon of Fredonia, an associate professor of English, recently returned from Japan, where he taught courses at Kyusha and Seinan Gakuin universities in early American literature as a multiethnic and postcolonial phenomenon.

• Paul van der Veur of Cortland, an associate professor and chair of the communications studies department, spent five months co-teaching documentary video production class at an engineering school in the Namibian capital of Windhoek.

— Karen L. Mattison