Founding Honorary Chairman

J. William Fulbright was born on April 9, 1905, in Sumner, Missouri, and died on Feb. 9, 1995, at the age of 89. He entered politics in 1942 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, entering Congress in January 1943 and becoming a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. In September of that year, he gained national attention when the House adopted the Fulbright Resolution supporting international peace-keeping machinery. In November 1944, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and served there from 1945 through 1974, becoming one of the most influential and best-known members of the Senate.

His legislation establishing the Fulbright Program slipped through the Senate without debate in 1946. Its first participants went overseas in 1948, funded by war reparations and foreign loan repayments to the United States. The Fulbright exchange program’s impact around the world is demonstrated by the more than 300,000 Fulbright grantees who have participated.Many have made significant contributions within their countries and advanced the goal of increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries throughout the world.

In 1949, Senator Fulbright became a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From 1959 to 1974, he chaired the committee, becoming its longest serving chairman in history.His Senate career was marked by some notable cases of dissent. In 1954, he was the only Senator to vote against an appropriation for the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which was chaired by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. He lodged serious objections to President Kennedy in advance of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.Senator Fulbright was also a powerful voice in the chaotic times of the war in Vietnam, when he chaired Senate hearings on United States policy and conduct of the war.

In 1963, Walter Lippmann wrote of Senator Fulbright: "The role he plays in Washington is an indispensable role. There is no one else who is so powerful and also so wise, and if there were any question of removing him from public life, it would be a national calamity."

Senator Fulbright was educated at the University of Arkansas and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1925. He then attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and received a master’s degree.He studied law at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.During the 1930's, he served in the Justice Department and was an instructor at the George Washington University Law School. In 1936, he returned to Arkansas to lecture in law. From 1939 to 1941, he served as the president of the University of Arkansas and was at that time the youngest university president in the country.

Senator Fulbright was of counsel to the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells) after leaving the Senate.He encouraged the founding of the Fulbright Association and remained active in support of the international exchange program that bears his name.

In 1993, President Clinton presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Senator Fulbright at the Fulbright Association’s 88^th Birthday Tribute Dinner in his honor. He received many other awards from governments, universities, and educational organizations around the world for his efforts on behalf of education and international understanding.

 

Board of Directors

President - John Vogel

A partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Patton Boggs LLP, Mr. Vogel serves as a principal in the firm’s Business Group and specializes in international corporate finance. His clients include U.S. and foreign-based corporations and financial institutions doing business throughout the world, particularly in Europe and in the Middle East. Mr. Vogel has spoken and written on a variety of international financial issues and trends, including the increasing utilization throughout the world of Islamic financing for large-scale projects.

Mr. Vogel received his bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. Mr. Vogel was a Fulbright fellow in Brussels, Belgium, in 1968, where he was a stagiaire at the European Union and served as an assistant to the EU’s chief legal counsel. Mr. Vogel has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Fulbright Association’s National Capital Area Chapter. He is currently Treasurer of the Fulbright Association and member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.

 

Vice-President - Mary Ellen H. Schmider

Dr. Schmider previously served as Executive Director of the Fulbright Association in 2012 as transition leadership. During her tenure, she developed a new staff, initiated the development of a more robust technology platform to serve  members and Chapters, worked with the Board to develop the bi-annual J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding awarded to Doctors Without Borders at the Library of Congress in September, Fulbright Commissions, and State Alumni in the UK and Europe to plan the 35th Annual Conference of the Association. Dr. Schmider held two Senior Fulbright Lecturer Awards: to China in 1997, and Macedonia in 2005-6. 

As Graduate Dean Emerita from the Minnesota State University Minnesota, she served as Chair of the Minnesota Humanities Commission. She holds the BA, magna cum laude, from St. Olaf College, the M. A. in English and American Literature from the University of Southern California, and the Ph. D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota.

 

 

Secretary - Manfred Philipp

An ex-officio, nonvoting member of the Board of Trustees and chairperson of the 2006-2007 session of the City University of New York (CUNY) University Faculty Senate, Dr. Philipp is professor and past department chair of chemistry at Lehman College and professor in the biochemistry and chemistry doctoral programs at the CUNY Graduate Center. As a Fulbright scholar in 2005, Dr. Philipp taught bioinformatics and biopharmaceutics at the Catholic University of Portugal.

He received his doctorate in biochemistry from Northwestern University and his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Michigan Technological University. Dr. Philipp has been program director for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported, research-based student support programs Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS), Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC), and the High School Summer Research Apprentice Program. He was co-program director of the NIH-supported Bridges to the Baccalaureate at Bronx Community College and Lehman College. He has also served as national president of the MBRS/MARC Program Directors Organization.

 

Treasurer - John F. Ausura

Founder of Capital Resolution, Inc., a firm that provides interim management and operations improvement services,  Ausura has more than 25 years’ experience as a senior executive in Fortune 100 and mid-cap companies, with special expertise in designing and executing strategies that enhance value for creditors and shareholders and in returning distressed and underperforming companies to long-term health. A Certified Turnaround Professional, Ausura has played major roles in successful turnarounds. His corporate experience includes CertainTeed Corporation, General Foods, Campbell Soup, PNC Bank, Godiva Chocolates, Day Runner, Outsource International, Talent Tree, Bell Sports, and Airwalk International. He has held interim and permanent positions as chief executive officer, president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer, among others. Ausura earned his MBA in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Scranton. He was a Fulbright fellow in Germany in 1975.

 

Director - John B. Bader

John B. Bader is Director of International Programs at Marks Education, an independent college counseling firm, and author of Dean's List: 11 Habits of Highly Successful College Students. Most recently, he served as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, where he also was Assistant Dean of Academic Advising. As a Fulbright Scholar to India who also spent much of his childhood in France, Dr. Bader took a lead role in Johns Hopkins' international programming, including the founding of a Study Abroad Office. While at Hopkins, Dr. Bader was also the National Scholarships Advisor, helping students win grants such as the Fulbright, Marshall, Rhodes, Truman, and many others. More than 100 students of his students won Fulbright Scholarships, half of all Hopkins students to ever win a Marshall were his advisees, and so many Hopkins students were awarded Truman Scholarships that the Truman Foundation named the university an "Honor Institution."

Prior to working at Hopkins, Dr. Bader was Policy Director for the Jon Corzine US Senate campaign, Washington (DC) Director and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the UCLA Center for American Politics, Political Researcher at ABC News, and a history teacher at both West Potomac and Thomas Jefferson high schools. Dr. Bader earned his BA in History at Yale University, and both his MA and PhD in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A scholar with expertise on the US Congress and Presidency, Dr. Bader is author of Taking the Initiative: Leadership Agendas in Congress and the Contract with America, and includes among his awards a Governmental Studies Fellowship to the Brookings Institution, numerous research grants, and NACADA's Outstanding Academic Advising Administrator.

 

Director - Jerome M. Cooper

Jerome M. Cooper, FAIA, a founding principal, is Chairman of COOPER CARRY, INC., a 52 year-old architectural firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Washington, D.C., New York, and Newport Beach, CA. Mr. Cooper received the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology. As the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, he studied at the Universita di Roma in 1957 in Rome, Italy. In 1997, he returned to Rome as a Visiting Artist at the American Academy.

His long-standing involvement with professional associations includes the American Institute of Architects (Fellow); Atlanta Chapter, AIA (Past President); and South Atlantic Region, AIA (National Director).In addition, he has been a member of various AIA Task Forces: the National Task Force on Long Span Design, the National Task Force on Ethics, and the National Task Force on Re-certification and Registration. Mr. Cooper has been honored with the Bernard B. Rothschild Award, the highest award granted by the Georgia Association AIA, as well as the Ivan Allen Award for Community Service. He has also served as a Trustee of the National Building Museum and currently is a member of the National Fulbright Board in Washington DC. Under Mr. Cooper's direction, Cooper Carry has received over 100 design awards, including 19 from the American Institute of Architects. In 1987, under his leadership, the firm received the Silver Medal for Design Excellence from the Atlanta Chapter AIA.

 

Director - Pauline M. Eveillard

Pauline Eveillard is Senior Program Associate at World Monuments Fund, an international non-profit organization dedicated to historic preservation, where she manages preservation projects, the international travel program, and the young members group. After earning her BA in Art History at Tufts University, she spent a year in Tunisia in 2005-2006 as a Fulbright fellow, where she studied ancient Roman mosaics and visual culture. In 2008 she applied the research completed during her Fulbright Fellowship to her Master’s thesis at the University of Chicago.

Ms. Eveillard is dedicated to raising awareness of the Fulbright program and Tunisia through working at World Monuments Fund, volunteering for One To World and New York Needs You, and starting an online retail business selling Tunisian products. Further, Ms. Eveillard has volunteered on a panel to discuss her Fulbright experience with first-generation college students. Ms. Eveillard plans to enhance participation of Fulbright alumni in the New York City area.

 

 

Director - Krishna Richard Sankar Guha

As executive vice president and a member of the management committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mr. Guha heads the New York Fed's communications group, which spans media relations, web communications, regional economics and community programs, and participates in policy deliberations in areas such as monetary policy and global financial regulation.

Prior to joining the Fed, Mr. Guha spent 15 years as a journalist, opinion writer, and editor with the Financial Times, most recently as U.S. economics editor based in Washington D.C. Mr. Guha received a master's degree in history from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, and a mid-career master's degree in public administration with a concentration in economics from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, as a Fulbright scholar. He has also served as a C.V. Starr Scholar and has held a number of prominent fellowships internationally. He won the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Best in Business Journalism Award and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants Excellence in Financial Journalism Award for his work on the recent financial crisis.

 

Director - Robert W. Helm

As a partner and deputy chairman of Dechert LLP in Washington, D.C., Mr. Helm is a leader of the firm’s financial services practice group and is responsible for its international activities.

He is a graduate of Stanford University (1979) and Stanford Law School (1982). He was a Fulbright-Hays Direct Exchange Fellow to Italy in 1982–1983, during which time he served as a research fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Mr. Helm has acted as a consultant to foreign governments and regulatory agencies on issues relating to securities and investment management markets and their regulation and has lectured on securities law topics in the United States and Europe. He is a member of securities and commodities law committees of the American Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the International Bar Association. He is also a member of the State Bar of California, the New York State Bar, and the District of Columbia Bar.

 

 

Director - Shirley Strum Kenny

A literary scholar, teacher, and academic administrator, Dr. Kenny was the first woman to serve as president of Stony Brook University, where her leadership from 1994 to 2009 resulted in major increases in student enrollment, campus improvements, and business and community linkages.

During her tenure, Stony Brook University added two campuses, Stony Brook Manhattan and Stony Brook Southampton, and also created the Stony Brook Research Park.  Dr. Kenny holds bachelor’s degrees in English and journalism from the University of Texas, a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, and a doctoral degree from the University of Chicago.  She was a Fulbright fellow to the United Kingdom in 1957.  In conjunction with Battelle Corporation, she established Brookhaven Science Associates in 1998 to administer Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.  She launched and chaired the Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University.  She was president of Queens College from 1985 to 1994.  Dr. Kenny has taught at the University of Texas, Gallaudet University, the Catholic University of America, the University of Delaware, and the University of Maryland.  She received the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal in 2007.

 

Director - Joseph F. Montes

Mr. Montes is currently the President of Voiceplate.com, a Los Angeles-based web building and social media technology company which allows users to opt-in and communicate via license plates. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force and a former police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, which he served from 1987 to 1998 as a patrol officer, training officer, detective trainee, and academy instructor.

Taking leave from the LAPD, he spent 1996 as a Fulbright scholar at the London School of Economics. Mr. Montes examined the relationship between level of accountability and rank. Focusing his research on leadership traits in law enforcement, Mr. Montes explored the differences between the U.S. and U.K. systems. Whilst at LSE, Mr. Montes also studied international law, public policy and economic theory.  

After leaving policing, Mr. Montes joined the investment banking industry  where he worked at Goldman Sachs and HSBC. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. Mr. Montes was appointed as commissioner to the Industrial Development Authority of the city of Los Angeles’s Community Development Department in November 2007 and currently chairs the authority.

 

Director - Keisuke Nakagawa

As a Fulbright fellow to Bangladesh in 2004, Mr. Nakagawa spent nine months piloting a health insurance program for the rural poor. Since returning to the United States, he has been actively involved in the National Capital Area Chapter (NCAC) of the Fulbright Association. He was elected to NCAC’s executive board in 2006, served as treasurer in 2007-08, and as president in 2008-09. During his term as president, the chapter held over 30 events including social activities, community service, and a gala at the Swedish Embassy.

Mr. Nakagawa is passionate about strengthening the Fulbright community at the local, national, and international levels. He is interested in empowering Fulbright Association chapters and coordinating with sister alumni associations around the world to share best practices and to foster a more connected global network of Fulbright alumni. He is also interested in encouraging young Fulbright alumni to get more involved in chapter activities and to take leadership roles in the Fulbright Association. Mr. Nakagawa  left his position as a policy analyst at the Congressional Budget Office two years ago to begin study at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University in 2004.

 Director - Andrea Neves

Professor emerita of education at Sonoma State University, Dr. Neves received her doctorate in education from Stanford University in 1984. Born and reared in California,  Neves completed her undergraduate education in Mexico D.F. Mexico and received a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Latin American studies.. Neves studied cultural anthropology and early childhood education on a full scholarship from the Mexican American Education Project and received her master’s degree in social sciences from Sacramento State University.  Neves has  taught at the American School Foundation secondary school in Mexico City and the Stanford University School of Education. In 1997 and in 2002 Neves received Fulbright-Hays fellowships to study issues of globalization in the education systems of Tanzania and of Uganda. She is a member of the board of the Sonoma State University Academic Foundation, the advisory board of the Stanford University School of Education, and the Board of Trustees of Opera San José.

Director - Everette Penn

Founding president of the Houston/SouthEast Texas Chapter of the Fulbright Association, Dr. Penn is associate professor in the Departments of Criminology and Cross-Cultural Studies at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He leads annual study abroad and service-learning trips to Egypt, where he was a Fulbright scholar in 2005, teaching American criminal justice at Cairo University.

He is the author of numerous articles and books on homeland security, juvenile justice, criminal justice, and teaching methodologies. He currently chairs the American Society of Criminology’s Division on People of Color and Crime. He also serves on the Houston Advisory Board of the United Negro College Fund. His consulting firm, Penn Consulting, assists clients in homeland security, criminal justice, and diversity issues. He served in the United States Army Reserve as a logistics officer from 1990 to 2004. Dr. Penn received his doctorate in criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, his master’s degree from the University of Central Texas, and his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University.

 

Director - John Sargent

 Dr. John Sargent is one of the Founders of BroadReach Healthcare and has extensive experience in developing, implementing and managing large-scale healthcare programs in the US and the developing world. As a Founding Partner he is involved in the creation and execution of the Company’s strategy, business development, client project delivery and key internal projects. Since the founding of BroadReach, he has been involved in all major aspects of the company’s strategy, business development and work including the creation of the company's first HIV/AIDS treatment program in South Africa, establishment operations there, and serving as the company's first Country Director until late 2006. He also established the company's operations and projects in other countries including Kenya, Namibia, China and Switzerland.

While at BroadReach, Dr. Sargent has worked on and led a variety of healthcare projects including strategic planning, development of public private partnerships, health systems strengthening, management and leadership training programs, and community mobilization and patient education programs for government, multi-lateral funding and assistance agencies, global NGO's and multi-national organizations. For pharmaceutical clients he has created market development strategies to increase access to those at the bottom of the pyramid and has evaluated distribution systems in various African countries. He is frequently called upon to speak at conferences and to advise governments, multi-national companies and donors and has been recognized with awards such as Devex's 40 Under 40 Leaders in international development.

Before founding BroadReach, he served as Senior Director and National Practice Leader at the Advisory Board Company - a Washington DC, USA based healthcare research, consulting firm, and think tank. Prior to this, he served as a management consultant within the New York office of APM/CSC Healthcare, a leading US healthcare consulting firm. Dr. Sargent received his BS in Biology from Dartmouth College, his master's degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology as a Fulbright Scholar from Oxford University, and his MD from Harvard Medical School.

 

Director - Gwendolyn Willis-Darpoh

Dr. Gwendolyn Willis-Darpoh is a senior researcher in the Human and Social Development Program at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). In 2004-2005, she was an Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) Education Policy Fellow.

With more than 35 years of experience in the field of education across various settings, Dr. Willis-Darpoh has worked with at-risk youth in Washington, D.C. and learning disabled students in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She received gubernatorial appointments to the statewide Maryland Advisory Council on Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders (2000-2003) and to the Maryland Advisory Council on Mental Hygiene (1999-2002), as well as being appointed by Maryland's state superintendent to the Achievement Initiative for Maryland's Minority Students steering committee (AIMMS) and to the K-16 Workgroup and State Leadership Team. Dr. Willis-Darpoh was a tenured Associate Professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she traveled to Nigeria (1988) and Germany (1997) as a Fulbright Scholar. She continues to have a deep interest in international education, particularly in developing, sub-Saharan African countries with a deep commitment to furthering the efforts of the Fulbright Association. Gwendolyn earned a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, a M.Ed. from the American University, and a B.S. from Virginia State University.