Oklahoma State University announces Fulbright US Scholar Awards for 2024-25
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Media Contact: Hailey Williams | Communications Specialist | 405-744-5496 | hwill21@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University has announced that Dr. Norb Delatte, Dr. Salim Hiziroglu, Dr. Holly Karibo and Dr. Javier Vilcáez received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.to teach and conduct research as Fulbright Scholars for the 2024-25 academic year.
This is the highest number of Fulbright U.S. Scholar awards received in 32 years, nearly matching the university’s record high of five awards earned during the 1992-93 award cycle.
"Each award cycle, our faculty show us how much they have to offer by applying for prestigious programs like Fulbright, and it's clear that OSU faculty are more than worth it,” said Austin Hayes, Fulbright Program adviser and scholar liaison in OSU Global. “This award cycle marks OSU's highest year of Scholar grants in over three decades. It's exciting to see more OSU faculty compete and receive Fulbright U.S. Scholar grants, and I am eager to keep this momentum going. By growing our community of scholars, OSU can actively build the Fulbright culture to support the next generation of global scholars."
This fall, Dr. Norb Delatte, M.R. Lohmann professor and head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will travel to the University of Naples Federico II in Italy to teach a graduate course on nondestructive evaluation which uses tools to "see inside" materials and structures to examine hidden features and flaws. Additionally, Delatte will conduct research about structural performance and vulnerability assessments of masonry and concrete buildings and bridges.
In the spring, Dr. Salim Hiziroglu, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, will travel to Transilvania University of Brasov in Romania where he will teach courses in value-added composite materials. Furthermore, Hiziroglu will focus on two research projects, one examining the properties of experimental value-added composites manufactured from local lignocellulosic species and the other studying the area of influence of the surface quality of Romanian wood species on their glue line strength. In addition to teaching and research, he will advise and assist doctoral, master's and junior faculty members on research projects for publication.
Dr. Holly Karibo, assistant professor of history and director of graduate studies in the Department of History, will research borderlands history at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada this semester. Through her research project titled "Ladies, Liquor, and the National Line: Gendering Prohibition in the Greak Lakes Borderlands," Karibo will work to uncover the histories of female smugglers and people involved with cross-border illegal trading and bootlegging in the 1920s and 1930s. She will also teach a seminar on illegal economies in the U.S., Canada and along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Dr. Javier Vilcáez, associate professor in the Boone Pickens School of Geology, will complete his Fulbright grant period at Universidad Privada Boliviana in Cochabamba, Bolivia teaching courses on environmental data analytics and environmental mining of energy and mineral resources. Vilcáez will perform research about lithium recovery from brines of Uyuni's salt flat, the largest lithium deposit in the world. By collaborating and sharing his research experience with researchers and students in Bolivia, Vilcáez hopes to contribute to Bolivia's net-zero emissions energy transition.
These OSU faculty members are recognized alongside more than 800 faculty, researchers, administrators and established professionals who teach or conduct research in affiliation with institutes abroad annually through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Fulbrighters form ongoing research collaborations and lay the groundwork for future partnerships between institutions.
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public and nonprofit sectors.
Any OSU student, staff, or faculty member interested in applying for Fulbright Programs should contact Hayes. For more information about available resources and support while pursuing Fulbright Programs while at OSU, please visit OSU Global’s Fulbright site.
Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which has operated in over 160 countries worldwide. In the U.S., the Institute of International Education implements the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the Department of State. For more information, visit the Fulbright Program website.