Contents Page Steering Committee Executive Summary Fulbright at Fifty The Challenge of Change Recommendations Appendices

In 1996, convinced that the Fulbright international educational exchange program deserved reexamination as it marked its golden jubilee year, the National Humanities Center, a private center for advanced study, initiated a study on the future of the program. This independent study was financed with the philanthropic support of several major foundations, and it has been our privilege to chair the steering committee that directed it and head the sponsoring institution. Made up of thirteen American and six leaders from abroad, the steering committee includes experts from the worlds of education, international affairs, business, medicine, philanthropy, and the media. Several are former Fulbright recipients; most have watched the program closely from the United States and abroad.

In a broad national and international outreach effort, we engaged leaders from American education, exchange programs, and civic organizations...

We set out to ask a number of questions about the Fulbright program and its future--are its core concepts, mission, and goals valid? Are the scope and priorities of the program, its administration, in need of change? Is funding adequate? Are there unmet needs or important opportunities?

During the course of our work, we met together three times to examine the Fulbright programand organized eight symposia across the nation to hear the views of several hundred people about Fulbright and its future. We also analyzed a dozen prior reports and studies on the Fulbright program. In a broad national and international outreach effort, we engaged leaders from American education, exchange programs, and civic organizations, as well as Fulbright alumni and representatives of the binational commissions.

This report, Fulbright at Fifty: Meeting the Challenge of the Next Fifty Years, presents the results of our deliberations. Although we drew inspiration and ideas from every source we could find, the conclusions and recommendations in this document are our responsibility alone. Because the phrase "Fulbright international educational exchange program" quickly becomes ungainly, this paper periodically replaces it with terms such as the "Fulbright exchange program," the "Fulbright program," and even "Fulbright" alone.

We take the opportunity to thank the staff of the National Humanities Center for their splendid help. We also acknowledge the invaluable assistance we received from the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Their support provided us with the autonomy essential to our task. We salute the work of our staff under the leadership of its able director, Michael Schneider. Amid the conflicting pressure of time versus information, the staff helped keep us on track.

Above all, we thank our colleagues on the steering committee for their commitment to this effort and the many thoughtful ways in which they advanced it. We were deeply impressed by their concern for the Fulbright program, and we were struck by their willingness to listen with open minds to the insights and commentary available at our meetings. Although each of us might have developed a slightly different document, we unanimously support the broad themes and directions outlined in this one.

We remember and express our appreciation for the life and work of the founder of this program, J. William Fulbright. We also express to succeeding generations of Congress the profound gratitude of all those, at home and abroad, who have benefited from the Congressional support that has given shape and meaning to Senator Fulbright's hopes for peace among the peoples of the world.

Finally, we recognize our indebtedness to many people and organizations around the world who have breathed life into the Fulbright vision, and add a note of hope that this study will encourage them to make Fulbright even stronger in the next fifty years.

W. Robert Connor President and Director The National Humanities Center

William C. Friday Steering Committee Chairman Executive Director William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust