The designation comes after 11 Fordham students and alumni were selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the 2023-2024 school year. Currently serving in destinations that range from Côte D’Ivoire to South Korea, they have joined the ranks of hundreds of Fordham students chosen for the program since it began nearly 80 years ago. 

“Fulbright scholarships change lives, funding international student research opportunities and creating pathways to careers in academia, industry, and government,” said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham. “Being a top producer of Fulbrights speaks to Fordham’s investment in scholarship and in our students; we are so gratified by their success.”

This is the sixth time Fordham has been recognized as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for U.S. students in the past 15 years. The prestigious awards allow students to pursue a variety of international opportunities, including studying, teaching, and conducting research abroad.

Molly Gleason, a 2021 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill, is an English teaching assistant in Indonesia through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. She applied for the Fulbright after a rewarding summer study abroad program in the country two years earlier.

“I was certain I wanted to return to continue the cultural exchange, and what better way to do that than within a classroom? I teach 10th and 11th graders at a vocational high school in Pekanbaru, a city in Sumatra that rarely has foreigners (I am the only one in the whole city!),” she said. “One highlight of my grant has been the development of an ecology club for my students who have never been exposed to the environmental field. Pekanbaru’s natural areas became immersive classrooms, and together we explored and learned about the ecosystem.”

Fordham students apply for awards like the Fulbright through the Office of Prestigious Fellowships, which offers guidance and support throughout the application process.

“We are overjoyed to be recognized as a top producer,” said Lorna Ronald, Ph.D., director of the fellowships office, adding that the office is eager to “break down the myth that only one type of student can apply for a prestigious award such as a Fulbright.”

“The Fulbright program is an ideal fellowship for any student interested in cultural exchange—and we have many such students at Fordham,” said Ronald. “We work closely with each student as they think through their goals and plans and how a year overseas might benefit them and the community they seek to serve. We can’t wait to work with students again this year, and we encourage all who are curious about this opportunity to come and meet with us.”

Operating since 1946, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program. Fulbright alumni include 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and 62 Nobel Laureates.