J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
# J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board was established by the United States Congress for the purpose of supervising the Fulbright Program and certain programs authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act and for the purpose of selecting students, scholars, teachers, trainees, and other persons to participate in the educational exchange programs.

Appointed by the President of the United States, the 12-member Board meets quarterly in Washington, D.C. The Board establishes worldwide policies and procedures for the Program and issues an annual report on the state of the Program. The Board maintains a close relationship with both the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the executive directors of all the binational Fulbright Commissions.

## History

The first board consisted of:

* Philip Willkie, attorney, Rushville, Indiana;
* Dr. Francis S. Smyth, dean, Medical School, University of California;
* Helen C. White, professor of English, University of Wisconsin;
* Dr. Martin R. P. McGuire, professor of Greek and Latin, Catholic University of America;
* Dr. Charles S. Johnson, president, Fisk University;
* Dr. Frederick L. Hovde, president, Purdue University;
* Col. John N. Andrews, personal representative of the administrator of Veterans Affairs;
* Dr. Walter Johnson, chairman, Department of History, University of Chicago;
* Russell L. Riley, director, International Educational Exchange Service;
* Dr. Samuel M. Brownell, U.S. commissioner of education;
* Dr. Francis J. Colligan, executive secretary of the Board of Foreign Scholarships;
* Donald B. Lourie, undersecretary of state for administration;
* Senator J. William Fulbright; and
* Joseph B. Phillips, deputy assistant secretary for public affairs.

## Current Board

Current Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board Members :

| Name | Hometown | Occupation | Member since |
| - | - | - | - |
| Donna Brazile | Washington, DC | Veteran political strategist and interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee | 2022 |
| Michael Trager | Washington, DC | Washington Lawyer | 2022 |
| James Berman | New York City | Former Principal at Select Equity Group, L.P. | 2022 |
| James Costos | Los Angeles New York City Madrid | Former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and Principality of Andorra | 2022 |
| William H. Freeman | Nashville | Chairman of Freeman Webb Incorporate, a real estate investment, management, and brokerage company | 2022 |
| Jennifer Lin | Los Angeles | Managing Partner, Gonring | Lin | Spahn | 2022 |
| Derek Lyons | Washington, DC | General Counsel at AppHarvest | 2020 |
| Jill Nash | San Francisco Bay Area | Senior Public Affairs and Corporate Communications Executive | 2023 |
| Andrew Olmem | McLean, Virginia | Partner at Mayer Brown LLP | 2020 |
| William Ruger | Great Barrington, Massachusetts | President of the American Institute for Economic Research | 2020 |
| Carmen Estrada Schaye | Los Angeles | National first Vice President of Diversity for the National Women’s Political Caucus | 2022 |
| Amy Swonger | McLean, Virginia | Former Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs | 2021 |
