Dr. Darlene DeMarie USF Professor and Faculty Fulbright Advisor with international scholar from Egypt
Founded in the years after World War II, the Fulbright Scholarship is known as a hallmark of global engagement and understanding. On August 30, more than 100 guests came together to honor Fulbright faculty and student scholars from USF and Central Florida and to welcome international visiting scholars to USF. The event brought together USF faculty, students, community members, and Fulbright alumni with their families, highlighting how their experiences have contributed to a vibrant and supportive community at home.
The annual celebration of the Fulbright scholarship along with visiting scholars and its impact on USF is central to the university’s mission of fostering a vibrant global community. Currently, USF hosts 123 visiting scholars from 35 countries across all three campuses, representing 10 colleges and 43 departments. At the event, visiting scholars from as far away as Pakistan, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo were welcomed. USF Fulbright scholars had the opportunity to network with guests and discuss their research journeys to many different countries including Morocco, Ghana, and the Czech Republic.
“Fulbright represents everything we want to see in people,” Dr. DeMarie said.
"We are celebrating the exchange of ideas, cultures and friendships. Regardless of where you are from, you are a part of something truly special,” said Dr. Brandon McLeod, the campus director of USF World at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus. This is more than just an academic gathering, it’s a chance to build connections that will last a lifetime.”
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has recognized USF as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars. USF is ranked among the top 10 universities nationally for the number of faculty and administrators selected for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Eight scholars from USF received Fulbright awards for academic year 2023-24. Meanwhile, the Office of National Scholarships in the Judy Genshaft Honors College guides students through applications for the program, helping dozens in recent years secure the coveted experience.
President of Mid-Florida Fulbright chapter with a Fulbright alum and Fulbright student scholar
The Mid Florida Chapter of the Fulbright Association is led by educational psychologist and USF Affiliate Professor Mark Lane-Holbert, who studied international pedagogy as a Fulbright scholar to Germany; the group frequently gathers for social and cultural events.
USF College of Education faculty member Dr. Darlene DeMarie has led USF’s faculty Fulbright efforts since 2014, when she was named USF’s Fulbright Faculty Advisor. A two-time Fulbright recipient, Dr. DeMarie’s first Fulbright experience took her to South Africa for where she helped established a childcare center, a nearly two-year project. A second Fulbright award took her to Hungary, where she taught psychology and early childhood education courses at Eötvös Loránd University in the Fall of 2019 before the experience was cut short by the pandemic.
“Fulbright represents everything we want to see in people,” Dr. DeMarie said. “All of you represent international people who come together, and we care about each other.”
Associate Director of USF Office of National Scholars Lauren Chambers with Fulbright students
The Fulbright experience also can be multi-generational. Patel College of Global Sustainability Associate Professor T.H. Culhane created a poster detailing his family’s multi-generational involvement in the program. Dr. Culhane’s mother, Hind Rassam Culhane, was a Fulbright scholar in Syria more than 20 years ago and her time in Syria helped shape his own commitment to cross-cultural understanding, social impact and service when he visited her as a graduate student. “You feel a calling and a desire to serve long after the formal experience,” he shared on his poster. “It becomes a lifelong mission.”
His poster was stationed next to one prepared by Grace Bedenbaugh, currently a middle school students and the daughter of USF Associate Professor of Music Education Jennifer Bugos, who spent last year as a Fulbright scholar at York University in Toronto. For a year, the seventh grader who is an aspiring molecular biologist was able to experience a Canadian school, complete with required classes in French and orchestra, and hour-long lunch breaks and two recesses a day — a foreign concept in Florida public schools.
“Fulbright is more family-friendly than ever,” Dr. DeMarie noted.
You can browse through the memorable event photos on Flickr.