Going abroad through Iowa State isn’t only for the students. 

Fulbright is an organization that allows U.S. scholars a chance to travel the world and spread their knowledge. Iowa State and the University of Iowa were named among the U.S. colleges in this program that produced the most Fulbright scholars.

Fulbright is a highly competitive program that has been part of universities in the U.S. since 1945. Professors who want to be involved apply, and then their application is looked over by their colleagues who have already been a part of the program. The program is not only open to professors who teach at universities, professors who have retired from teaching can also apply.

Fulbright was started by a senator from Arkansas, William Fulbright.

“It was kind of his brainchild, after World War II, to have a program that was outside the government that was promoting scientific exchanges among countries to build better relations.” said Mark Gleason, professor of plant pathology and microbiology.

Gleason went to Montenegro in 2012 for two weeks and Serbia in 2015 and 2016 for two weeks where he gave lectures on professional speaking skills and research ethics.

In Montenegro, Gleason said English wasn’t well know, so while he gave lectures, someone was up there translating while he was talking.

Teaching somewhere foreign where English is not a prominent language causes some barriers some of these professors have to face when they are accepted into the Fulbright program. Though, professors get to choose where they want to go.

Tunde Adeleke, professor for African-American studies, chose to go to Romania because of a conference he had there. He taught a class at the University of Bucharest and discovered it was a great place that needed someone to lecture about diversity. 

“I went to many places,” Adeleke said. “There is lots of immigration in Europe, they use the U.S. as a window into their own politics.”

Adeleke was in Romania, Austria and Hungary when traveling in 2016. He gave lectures about African-American history, American ethnic studies and lectures about the diversity in the U.S. 

Professors help their students in these areas they travel to understand other cultures and even help them advance further in their own countries professionally.

“My mentees started to send me graceful feedback now that the many ‘seeds’ I planted back then are ‘sprouting,’ for example, they started thinking differently about what they need and can do to thrive,” said Jacek Koziel, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at Iowa State.

Koziel went to Poland for a year with his family to mentor and teach students at Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences. His mentoring centered around early-career scientist.

“The Fulbright assignment was the most productive time of my academic career,” Koziel said. “I published 15 peer-reviewed papers, gave many invited talks at WUELS, several other agriculture-oriented universities in Poland and even Ukraine.”

The Fulbright program is giving professors the opportunity to work with other countries and their students.

During their time abroad, they gain experiences to share with their students when they come back home. Koziel had the pleasure of having his family come with him for the year he was there, also letting him create memories with his family.