Dr. Hernando Garcia, an associate professor in physics at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and do research in Argentina. Garcia will work at the Center for Optics Research at the National University of La Plata (Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) during the 2013-2014 academic year, according to the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Garcia will assist in the implementation of an ultrafast optics laboratory and analyze electronic dynamics in metal nanoparticles. The SIUE faculty member is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2013-2014.
“It is an honor for me to receive this award;” said Garcia. “Fulbright carries a high responsibility and prestige because it was designed to foster and encourage mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries around the world.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the U.S. also provide direct and indirect support.
Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide. Since its establishment in 1946, under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 310,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, education, and athletics. Forty-four Fulbright alumni from 12 countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize, and 81 alumni have received Pulitzer Prizes.
For further information about the Fulbright Program, visit http://fulbright.state.gov.