“Congratulations to the first U.S.-ASEAN Visiting Scholars,” were the words from U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN David Carden on April 3 at a ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia, inaugurating the first-ever Fulbright class of U.S.-ASEAN Visiting Scholars. He further emphasized the high importance that the United States places upon this partnership when he explained that, “The scholars’ projects are great representations of ongoing areas of focus in ASEAN, and we wish them well in their research at universities in the United States.”
The first seven U.S.-ASEAN Visiting Scholars under the Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Initiative are:
• Ms. Siti Salwah Saim, Senior Brunei Government Officer;
• Mr. Faisal Nurdin Idris, Lecturer at the State Islamic University Jakarta in Indonesia;
• Dr. Phouphet Kyophilavong, Assistant Professor at the National University of Laos;
• Dr. Hla Soe Tint, Deputy Director at the Ministry of Health in Myanmar;
• Dr. Charmaine Galos Misalucha, Assistant Professor at De La Salle University in the Philippines;
• Dr. Chatchawan Jantasuriyarat, Assistant Professor at Kasetsart University in Thailand; and
• Ms. Ly Phuong Nguyen, Lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam – Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A reciprocal program will allow institutions in the ASEAN countries to host U.S. grantees pursuing projects on ASEAN priority topics or on the U.S.-ASEAN relationship. The Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Initiative, first announced by then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the 2012 U.S.-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, helps to mark more than 35 years of U.S.-ASEAN cooperation.
The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State in partnership with governments around the world.
For more information on U.S-ASEAN student exchanges, visit the Asia Matters for America data pages on American students in ASEAN and ASEAN students in America.