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Program has Promoted Transatlantic Understanding for
Half Century
Over the past 50 years, more than 30,000 students, researchers, teachers, professors and other academic professionals from Germany and the United States have taken part in the academic and cultural exchange of the German-American Fulbright Program. In numerous events on both sides of the Atlantic over the course of this year, the largest and most varied Fulbright program in the worldwide network is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The program is a reflection of the strength of the relationship between not just the two countries, but the two peoples, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said at a State Department reception on October 10 that was also attended by German Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger and US Ambassador to Germany Daniel R. Coats. “Through the Fulbright Program, tens of thousands have had the precious opportunity to study and live in one another's countries, to share knowledge, to develop professional relationships and most importantly, to develop friendships -- friendships that have and will last a lifetime,” Powell said. “While Fulbrighters are enriched by their experiences, they've also, and here again more importantly, enriched the societies and those they return to wherever they go. They help others gain an appreciation and admiration of a culture different than their own.” US Senator J. William Fulbright established the program in 1946 with the concept of promoting mutual understanding between countries through academic and cultural exchange. Germany, along with Japan, joined the program in 1952 and contributes through cost-sharing and indirect support of the program. The German-American Fulbright Program awards up to 700 grants a year, with participants coming from the fields of science, the fine arts, political science, journalism and economics, among others. The program “has grown and flourished creating deep, human bonds between Germany and the United States, bonds that transcend the ebbs and flows of politics and commerce,” Powell said. “Fifty years after its birth, the Fulbright Program continues to advance our common commitment to freedom and democracy, to economic liberty and the rule of law and to the security of our two nations. Now, more than ever, we need this modest program.” Transforming Journey
Fulbright Alumnus Joseph P. Allen likens his year as a grantee in Berlin
from 1959 to 1960 to taking a trip into space. And Allen should know,
as a NASA scientist astronaut he logged 314 hours in space on two space
shuttle missions and served as a mission controller in both the Apollo
and Space Shuttle programs. “Every journey changes a person,”
Allen said recently when asked to reflect on his Fulbright experience.
“Part of the way a person is changed by a journey is in being away
from home and gaining a new perspective and a new appreciation for home.”
Allen remembers being accepted by fellow students at the Christian Albrechts
University in Kiel who insisted that he speak German, though some of them
spoke English well. Some of those classmates have remained lifelong friends.
Along with those relationships, Allen gained an appreciation for exchange
programs and has hosted several German high school students in the US.
“If ever a solid understanding of peoples across oceans were important,
it is vitally important right now,” said Allen, Chairman of the
Board of Veridian Corp., an information technology company specializing
in national security clients.
Reimar Lüst was one of the first German grantees in the US, but his arrival in New York in 1955 was not his first trip to America. Lüst, a German submarine officer, had spent three years as a prisoner of war in the US, a time during which he began his studies in Physics and Mathematics. After returning to Germany and earning his Ph.D., Lüst received an invitation to do research at the University of Chicago and applied for a Fulbright fellowship. “My Fulbright year has been the most decisive in my scientific career due to the many contacts that I was able to establish in a short time. In addition to making contacts, however, I was also able to compare the German and American university systems, and have made a point to introduce aspects of the American system to our German system with the intention of improving it.” Lüst, currently Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International University Bremen, served as President of the Max Planck Society for 12 years, as well as Director of the European Space Agency, and President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
The experiences of Allen and Lüst are just two of thousands that demonstrate the enduring value of international exchange programs like Fulbright. Allen’s words echo those of German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who spoke at a ceremony in the Foreign Office on March 12. “However deep our sympathy with the American people in the wake of these murderous attacks, however great the threat of international terrorism to the free society we prize — the way people feel, the general mood on either side of the Atlantic is not the same. And it is important to perceive, understand and also to communicate these different moods and expectations. To this end we need, apart from policy-makers and officials, people who can serve as ‘translators.’ People who know and understand the world as it is seen from the other side of the Atlantic.” This is the essence of what the Fulbright program contributes. Among the events in Washington commemorating the anniversary this month is a symposium on the legacy of the program. Links |
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