American University has this week been named a top producer of Fulbright US students and Fulbright US scholars for 2024–25 by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

AU is one of just 19 institutions across the country—and only 13 doctoral universities—that earned both distinctions, recognizing the university for having 12 students and six senior scholars selected for the US government’s flagship international academic exchange program.

While AU has now been recognized as a top producer of student Fulbrighters nine times in the last 13 years, this marks the first time the university has been honored as a top Fulbright scholar-producing institution since at least 2009–10—as far back as Fulbright records are available.

“American University has a storied tradition of producing top Fulbright talent, who are deeply committed to gaining a global understanding of learning, teaching, and research,” said Monica Jackson, deputy provost and dean of faculty. “This latest recognition demonstrates the long-lasting commitment that AU faculty and students make to impact on communities across our campus, DC, and worldwide.”

The US Fulbright program was founded in 1946 to foster mutual relations between the United States and other countries after World War II. Since then, more than 400,000 students and scholars across the country have been selected for opportunities to teach, study, or conduct research abroad.

Each year, experts and professionals across the country compete for about 400 scholar slots, which provide funding to lecture, research, or carry out professional projects in over 135 countries. In 2024–25, these AU faculty earned one of these elite fellowships:

• Environmental science professor Michael Alonzo
• World Languages and Cultures professor Maria Juliana Martinez Orozco
• Economics professor Mieke Meurs
• Sociology professor Molly Dondero
• Office of Graduate and Professorial Studies research professor Heather Gordon
• School of Public Affairs professor Joseph Young

Those senior scholars are joined by a crew of recent AU graduates who landed Fulbright funding for independent research, English-language teaching assistantships, and other international study opportunities.

Each year, AU students are shepherded through a lengthy Fulbright process by the Office of Merit Awards (OMA)—led by associate director Chris Swanson and assistant director Lori Felton, both former Fulbrighters themselves—which provides resources, one-on-one meetings, and mock interviews for applicants. That longtime institutional support has paid off.

In total, 256 AU alumni have gone across the globe as part of the Fulbright US student program. Among them, AU alums are currently abroad in places like Germany, Mexico, South Korea, and Kazakhstan.

“I am tremendously proud of AU’s Fulbrighters, both because I am part of the team in the Office of Merit Awards who advised them and because I myself had a Fulbright to do research in Austria,” Swanson said. “My perception has been that as a group, we Fulbrighters see the world as perfectible and the future as something to look forward to. I think that ethos fits well with the spirit of our campus community.”

Fulbrighter Ethan Wong, SIS/BA ’23, started a master’s in peace and conflict studies at the University of Oslo in August 2024. He said Norway is the perfect spot for him to dive into his thesis focused on how non-Arctic states impact the work of The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum of eight countries based in Norway that promotes cooperation in the Arctic.

“Norway is a leader in peace research and peace studies, so there’s a lot of research and politics that get done here,” Wong said. “Having access to those resources has been great. Fulbright has been very supportive in helping me pursue these opportunities.”

While digging into a research opportunity he worked hard to earn in his own right, Wong said he’s honored to have contributed to AU’s recognition.

“It speaks to the level of education and dedication of the faculty and staff at AU,” Wong said. “A lot of my professors and the Office of Merit Awards were instrumental in pushing me to apply for the Fulbright. The guidance and support they instill in students was fantastic.”