Fulbright Alumni Updates

Sasha Purcell (2020, Griffith University to New York University) was named as the 2021 National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Scholar of the Year.

Diana Zhang (2020, University of New South Wales to Boston University University) was named as the Early Career Researcher Representative on the Board of Science & Technology Australia.

Victor Lopez-Carmen (2018, Ithaca College to Western Sydney University) was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 -- Healthcare list for his contributions to Indigenous Health advocacy.

Clare Sullivan (2011, University of Adelaide to George Washington University) won a National Science Foundation IUCRC grant to expand the multidisciplinary cyber research activities of the insitute she founded at Georgetown University; the Cyber SMART Center.

Gina Cass-Gottlieb (1987, University of Sydney to University of California, Berkeley) was named as the new Chair of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). Gina will be the first woman to head the independent watchdog.

Holly Ransom (2019, Emergent to Harvard University) published her new book The Leading Edge, which examines what true leadership look like in the 2020s, and how people can we be part of the solution, while crafting meaningful and satisfying careers.

DR PAUL HARPUR NAMED BLIND AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR

The Blind Australian of the Year Award was announced this

month, and we were thrilled to hear that Dr Paul Harpur (2020, University of Queensland to the Burton Blatt Institute and Harvard University) was named as the winner.

Harpur, now an Associate Professor at the TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland, and chair of the University of Queensland Disability Inclusion Group, has had an incredible couple of years.

He was awarded a Fulbright Future Scholarship in 2019, and in 2020 worked at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability. His plan from there was to travel to Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute, before COVID-19 cut his Fulbright experience early and sent him home. This was barely a roadblock for Paul, however, as he pivoted his research examine the impact that public health crises have on society’s most vulnerable, subsequently winning a 2021 Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. He now adds the Blind Australian of the Year award to his collection of accolades.

The Blind Australian of the Year Award recognises and celebrates Blind Australians who by example inspire others to excellence, by action, improve Australian life. This year there were 58 nominations from all around Australia from many different walks of life, from the legal fraternity, the media, refugee assistance, the arts, music, culinary pursuits, fashion, medical professions, and sport. Read more about Paul's fantastic achievement HERE.

FULBRIGHT PROGRAM CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF IMPACT

Alumni of Australian Fulbright Program were featured among those making their mark in education, the environment, public service, science, and the arts at the Program’s 75th Anniversary celebration.

Ambassador Thomas Pickering (1954, University of Melbourne) Garth Fagan (1996, State University of New York) and Sam Nester (2010, Manhattan School of Music) were all featured in the Fulbright Program’s 75th Anniversary celebration on November 30 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, marking the accomplishments of the past 75 years and looking ahead to the exciting future of the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program.

More than 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds have participated in the Fulbright Program since its inception in 1946, including 40 heads of state or government, 61 Nobel Prize Laureates, 75 MacArthur Foundation Fellows, 89 Pulitzer Prize Recipients, and 16 U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients.

Fulbright Australia alum Ambassador Thomas Pickering was featured in video remarks about Fulbright’s impact on public service, musician Sam Nester was a featured performer, and choreographer Garth Fagan was highlighted in a special tribute to Fulbrighters who have contributed to the arts. Read more about the event HERE.