U.S. Department of State recognizes FIU as Hispanic-Serving Leader for fourth time

FIU continues to stand out as a leader among Hispanic-Serving Institutions in sending and receiving students and scholars globally under the U.S. Department of State's flagship academic exchange program, also known as the Fulbright Program. Recognized during this year's Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities conference as one of a few select institutions, FIU has earned the Fulbright HSI Leader recognition for the four year in a row for impactful out- as well as inbound exchanges across the world. 

FIU's most-decorated Fulbrighter

Scoring one competitive Fulbright award – either as a student or faculty – is difficult enough, but multiple times? Emmanuel Roussakis, professor emeritus of finance, certainly knows how. Between 2010 and 2024, he earned one Fulbright Scholar Award (Romania 2010) and seven Fulbright Specialist Awards (Russia 2012, Indonesia 2013, Morocco 2014, Kuwait 2017, Tunisia 2020, Cyprus 2022, Colombia 2024) and is now one of the most-decorated Fulbrighters ever. Roussakis and his wife Sophie shared their remarkable Fulbright journey during the 2024 FIU Fulbrighters Homecoming-Sendoff celebration with administrators and other Fulbright recipients. 

Fulbright Visiting Students

In 2024-2025 FIU is hosting eight Fulbright Visiting Students from across the globe who pursue their master or doctoral degree at FIU. Meet two of them: 

Agustina Rosenbluth Mulki from San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy province, in Argentina. She completed a bachelor's in industrial engineering and three master's degrees in industrial leadership, international trade and general management. She enjoys learning and felt that immersing herself in the U.S. for her studies towards a Master's in Engineering Management would give her entirely new perspectives and leadership abilities. Academically as well as professionally, Rosenbluth Mulki is keenly interested in finding and making - as little as is necessary -  operational modifications that significantly change efficiency. She also enjoys immersing herself in the campus and Miami communities. 

Patrick Otema is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth and Environment and he is pursuing a doctoral degree in Earth Systems Science. Patrick was born in Kitgum, a city in Northern Uganda. Prior to transitioning to his home institution,  Busitema University in Eastern Uganda, he completed an MSc in Agroforestry and Food Security from Bangor University under the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Program. His FIU advisors are professors Maruthi Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar and Krish Jayachandran. Otema is a Teaching Assistant who is passionate about sustainability and environmental resilience. His research focuses on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services that underpin food production. He intends to gain insights on building sustainable farming systems. 

Fulbright visiting scholars

Just as FIU faculty seek opportunities to collaborate in-person and on-site with global partners abroad (see Where in the World are FIU's Fulbrighters?), hosting a Fulbright Foreign Scholar at FIU creates unique possibilities to advance scholarship and science. Meet this year's Visiting Scholars: 

The FIU Libraries are hosting Tomasz Zawadzki, Ph.D., from Poland in the 2024-2025 year as Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. His academic background includes gaming and extended realities such as augmented (AR), virtual (VR) and mixed (MR) realities. Facilitated by Bryan Cooper, Associate Dean for Engagement and Innovation, Zawadzki is helping introduce students to the creation of AR applications and 360-degree video; creating virtual 3D mangrove flowers and sharks in collaboration with science education faculty; collaborating with the North Miami Chamber of Commerce on sessions for business owners on 3D modeling for marketing; and he is supporting Miami-Dade County high school teachers and students, and the Everglades Foundation, with interactive AR for education productions. Zawadzki also will be collaborating with the Libraries’ 3D sound artist-in-residence on upcoming 360-degree production workshops for faculty and students. And, in Spring 2025, he will support local Public Television’s plans to engage the public through 360-degree immersive video, and FIU Journalism students using AR within immersive media storytelling.

Ileana Ortegon-Aznar, Ph.D., Fulbright Visiting Scholar from Mexico, is hosted by Alain Duran, Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Biology, to jointly conduct a comparative analysis of coral reef dynamics between Yucatán and Florida. This novel study focuses on the ecological role of long sediment-laden algal turfs (LSAT) on resilience-related processes such as coral recruitment and survival of corals. Their collaboration includes the creation of an LSAT monitoring protocol that can be applied Caribbean-wide. Along with Ligia-Collado Vides, Teaching Professor, they also mentor students, revamp classes, and study local macroalgal-related issues such as the Caulerpa bloom in Miami’s coral reefs.

Fulbright specialists

In addition to Fulbright Scholar awards, multiple FIU faculty earned a Fulbright Specialist grant, which funds short-term, technical projects to be carried out at an institution abroad. 

Andrej Milić, J.D., Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice and Director of Development for the College of Law, was invited by the Ministry of Finance in Zagreb, Croatia, for a project focused on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which established a proposal for Croatian FDI legislation. This proposal was based on a standardized framework of criteria that is utilized by the European Commission and Member States in their assessment of foreign investments. This regulatory framework created through the collaborative efforts of Mr. Milić and the various government ministries aims to provide a comprehensive while nuanced approach in evaluating the potential risks and benefits associated with foreign direct investment within the European Union.

Hilary Landorf, Ph.D., Associate Professor of International & Intercultural Education and Assistant Vice President for Global Learning Initiatives completed her Fulbright Specialist project Co-creating Global Learning for All Through Collective Impact at the Universidad Católica de Manizales (UCM) in Manizales, Colombia in Fall 2023. In collaboration with the Senior International Office of the UCM, she provided on-site training, workshops, and co-creative discussions with senior leadership, deans, directors, and faculty members at the six (6) universities in Manizales - Universidad Católica de Manizales, Universidad de Caldas, Universidad de Manizales, Universidad Autonoma de Manizales, Universidad Católica Luis Amigo in Manizales, and Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Manizales. Landorf also facilitated a panel discussion with Universidad Católica de Manizales stakeholders, local industry leaders and foundation officers on how to advance global learning in the community and region.

During Fall 2023, Larry “Jamie” Ousley, DMA, Associate Professor of Music, was invited by the National University of Costa Rica, which has its main campus in Heredia, Costa Rica, to give masterclasses on improvisation, composition, and playing in jazz ensembles. He joined the master's students for multiple jam sessions in local venues around San Jose. Ousley also participated in a recording in a Costa Rican studio for a project submitted for this year's Latin Grammy's: "Claude Bolling Goes Latin: Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio".

Raquel Perez, Ph.D., served as a Fall 2023 Fulbright Specialist to Ovidius University in Constanta, Romania, where she collaborated with stakeholders in the Black Sea region to enhance their cultural diplomacy and global security efforts. Throughout speaking engagements, workshops, and collaborative initiatives, she shared her expertise in peace, conflict resolution, and diplomacy, helping to foster greater socio-political awareness and intercultural understanding. Perez's contributions played a vital role in strengthening the program’s framework and ensuring its long-term sustainability.

Fulbright-Hays Fellowship 

The Fulbright-Hays Program awards grants to individual pre-doctoral students and postdoctoral faculty for research overseas, which focus on non-Western foreign languages and area studies. 

Gremaud Angee is pursuing his Ph.D. in Latin American History. In order to access historic archives in Brazil, he applied for a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship with the project titled From Liberation to Prosperity: The Peak and Decline of Progressive Catholic Lay Movements and the Rise of Neo-Pentecostalism in São Paulo, Brazil, 1964–1985. His research sought to understand the relationship between the rise and decline of progressive Catholic lay movements and the rise of Neo-Pentecostalism in the peripheries of São Paulo, Brazil, under the country’s military dictatorship (1964–1985). Angee's project explores how progressive São Paulo’s Catholic movements and Neo-Pentecostal churches, sought to draw on their faith and theological beliefs their own system of moral values that would help them to address worldly issues like building democracy, welfare, and/or social mobility. He completed his Fulbright-Hays doctoral dissertation research from January to July 2024. 

Interested in Fulbright? 

Teaching, studying and researching opportunities in more than 160 countries through the Fulbright Program are available to graduate students and faculty. The application process is very competitive. Student applicants are required to submit their application for review by an FIU committee and must contact Fulbright Program Advisor  Ashley Kuntz, Director, Prestigious Scholar Development. FIU faculty are not required to submit their application to the Fulbright Program through FIU; however, the Fulbright Campus Liaisons Assefa Melesse and Birgitta Rausch-Montoto are year-round available to offer insights on how to craft a competitive project proposal for a Fulbright award. Please email global@fiu.edu for more information.