The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs recently announced that UNC Asheville is among the U.S. colleges and universities with the highest number of Fulbright Scholars in 2015-16. UNC Asheville is tied for second among bachelor’s institutions.

“UNC Asheville is home to scholars with a global focus, who are at the same time dedicated teachers in our undergraduate classrooms and engaged researchers in our local community and around the world,” said UNC Asheville Provost Joseph Urgo. “They are leaders in liberal arts education and hands-on learning that aims to not only understand our world but to make a difference in it.”

Three UNC Asheville faculty and staff were awarded Fulbright Scholar grants for 2015-16:

David Gillette, associate professor of environmental studies, was awarded a Fulbright research grant and is spending the 2015-16 academic year in Nepal, returning to the Gandaki River basin where he had studied fish populations decades ago. Gillette and his colleague, Professor David Edds of Emporia State University, are re-sampling fish communities in 40 previously-sampled sites to document changes and develop an understanding of ecosystem response to climate change. Fluent in Nepali, and with experience working in Nepal as volunteers, the American scientists are sharing their findings with Nepal’s scientists and collaborating to help develop the capacity of the people of Nepal to respond to climate change.

Keya Maitra, chair and professor of philosophy, was awarded a Fulbright-Nehru Senior research grant and spent the fall 2015 semester at the Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi, India. The trip enabled her to study ancient Buddhist texts in India, and conduct research, and share her ideas with Indian colleagues with the aim of developing an epistemology of mindfulness. “Interestingly, while mindfulness has been explored in some applied research topics in philosophy, namely, in medical ethics, business ethics and philosophy of education among others, mainstream philosophy lags behind,” said Maitra. “One of the goals of my project is to remedy this situation by focusing on how incorporating mindfulness will allow us to articulate a dimension of epistemology that is unexplored in contemporary philosophical discourse.”

Cara Gilpin, assistant director of UNC Asheville Study Abroad programs, was one of 20 American international education administrators to receive a Fulbright grant to attend a two-week seminar abroad. The conference began in Berlin, and Gilpin then traveled with other participants to the German cities of Marburg and Wittenberg where UNC Asheville has had study-abroad programs. “The education system is so different in Germany,” said Gilpin. “I have a much better sense of the structure there now, which will be helpful in advising students as we see more students wanting to study abroad there as the German program here strengthens and its numbers increase.” Gilpin also learned more about the French education system, since the conference activities also took her to meet with education administrators in Strasbourg, France.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Three UNC Asheville graduating seniors were recipients of Fulbright grants in the prior year, 2014-15, with one student engaged in biochemistry research in Norway, and the others teaching English in Germany and South Korea.

This ranking by the Fulbright Program echoes recent accolades, including the Peace Corps naming UNC Asheville one of the top-producing small colleges, and The Princeton Review, which named UNC Asheville No. 1 in the nation for “Making an Impact” in 2016.