Geospatial technology expert from Central University of Tamil Nadu, India, welcomed as 2023-2024 scholar-in-residence
North Carolina Central University (NCCU) is proud to be named a Fulbright Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Institutional Leader for 2023. Each year, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) recognizes the strong engagement of select HBCUs with the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange program.
Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders demonstrate noteworthy support for Fulbright exchange participants and promote Fulbright program opportunities on campus. The initiative encourages administrators, faculty and students at HBCUs to engage with Fulbright. It also highlights the strength of HBCUs as a destination for international students and scholars and showcases their deep intellectual traditions and proud history to audiences abroad. This year, NCCU is one of 19 Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders.
Since 1961, NCCU has had 24 professors participate in the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Over the past 25 years, NCCU has hosted four visiting scholars (Ghana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Kingdom and Ukraine); and three scholars-in-residence (two from India and one from Democratic Republic of the Congo).
During the 2023-2024 academic year, Balasubramani Karuppusamy, Ph.D., an expert in geospatial technology at Central University of Tamil Nadu, India, will teach courses on the principles of remote sensing and remote sensing of natural resources in the NCCU Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences. Karuppusamy will also mentor student projects; work with the University’s sustainability group on potential application of geospatial technologies; deliver lectures throughout campus and local institutions; and interact with students on the effective utilization of geospatial techniques for sustainable agriculture, disaster risk and public health.
“Diversity is one of America’s greatest strengths, and pairing the positive power of Fulbright with the academic excellence at Historically Black Colleges and Universities provides changemaking opportunities for students, scholars, and campus communities both here at home and abroad,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Lee Satterfield.
Himself a Fulbright-Hays fellow, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs David H. Jackson Jr., says being named a Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader is part of the fulfillment of ‘The Eagle Promise.’
“We promise our students that they will have a global experience while they are at the university,” Jackson said. “Traveling abroad or interacting with people who can expose them to other cultural realities. I think by having this designation, other people will recognize NCCU as a place that is inviting for international scholars, as well as a place that encourages global leadership and development and a place people can come to broaden their worldview in general.”
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program. Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals, of all backgrounds and in all fields, the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections and work to address complex global challenges. 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.
The Fulbright Program implements a wide range of initiatives to ensure that its participants reflect all aspects of the diversity of U.S. society and societies abroad. To achieve that goal, the program collaborates with external stakeholders, including the White House Initiative on HBCUs, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, the American Association of Community Colleges, Mobility International and Diversity Abroad, among many others.
Learn more about the Fulbright Program at https://fulbrightprogram.org, including information about Fulbright’s efforts to further DEIA within the program and about the Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders initiative.
