The Foreign Service Journal, November 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2016 21 Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and overseen by an indepen- dent, presidentially appointed board, the Fulbright Program is notable for its binational partnership structure—including 49 Fulbright Commissions around the world—as well as the high level of cost-sharing it attracts from foreign governments, academic institutions and the private sector. U.S. Foreign Service officers, including those who are Ful- bright alumni, continue to play a crucial role in the program. FSOs serve as administrators of the program abroad—either within embassies or on binational Fulbright Commission boards in partnership with foreign governments. These boards work with locally employed embassy staff, as well as with State Department colleagues and nongovernmental partner organi- zation employees in the United States. Adaptation and Diversification The State Department has developed new and enhanced program models to respond to bilateral priorities. For instance, the Fulbright Specialist Program sends U.S. experts on migration issues to work with European countries grap- pling with the influx of migrants from Syria and elsewhere. In Greece a Fulbright specialist assisted the Athens municipal government in setting up a process to ensure that refugees were effectively matched to available resources. Fulbright’s Regional Network for Applied Research Program (known as NEXUS), which recently concluded its third two- year cycle, brings together a multinational group of scholars, professionals and applied researchers from across the Western Hemisphere, including the United States, to engage in collab- orative research on climate change and adaptation strategies. Established in 2015, the Fulbright Arctic Initiative supports Al Azhar University in Egypt, established in 969 A.D., is the oldest, continuously operating institution of higher education in the Muslim world. FSO Martin Quinn (see p. 26) took this photo of the Al Azhar gate in 1979 when he taught American civilization there on a Fulbright lectureship. Inset: Martin Quinn, top left, with his Al Azhar students. The students are holding Quinn’s daughters, Esther and Suzy. COURTESYOFMARTINQUINN