“Global Opportunities,” the fall meeting of the Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Fulbright Association, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. until noon in Butler Library 210 on the Buffalo State College campus at 1300 Elmwood Ave.

The program is free and open to the public.

Featured speakers include:

Dr. Carol Loan Patitu, president of the Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Fulbright Association and associate professor of educational foundations at Buffalo State; Dr. Janet Ramsey, associate vice president for undergraduate education at Buffalo State; and Dr. Jean Gounard, vice president for advocacy of the Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Fulbright Association, who will open the meeting and introduce the Fulbright presenters, who include:

Christina Zawierucha, Fulbright-Hays Scholarship recipient, India, Egypt and Israel; and Fulbright Memorial Scholar, Japan;

Dr. Laila Denoya, Fulbright Scholar, Honduras; and Fulbright Senior Specialist, Venezuala, Dominican Republic and Honduras;

Dr. Ann Colley, Fulbright Scholar, Ukraine; and professor of English at Buffalo State College; and

Maria Yusi, Visiting Fulbright Student, Buffalo State, Philippines.

The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international education exchange, was proposed to Congress in 1945 by Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, who saw the proposed program as a much-needed vehicle for promoting “mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world” in the aftermath of World War II. His vision was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1946.

Fulbright grants are made to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since its inception, the program has given more than 250,000 participants chosen for their leadership potential the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions – foreign academics and professionals who have taught or conducted research in the U.S. as visiting Fulbright Scholars and U.S. faculty and professionals who have engaged in similar activities in more than 140 countries abroad in a wide variety of academic and professional fields ranging from journalism and urban planning to music and zoology.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars assists in the administration of the Fulbright Scholar Program for faculty and professionals. Overseas, it is administered by bi-national Fulbright Commissions or by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassies. The presidentially appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board is responsible for the final selection of all Fulbright grantees and the supervision of the Fulbright Program worldwide. An annual appropriation made by the Congress to the Department of State primarily funds the Fulbright Program.

For more information, contact Gounard at (716) 878-5331.