For the 2025-26 academic year, six Penn State faculty and staff received Fulbright Scholar Awards, one received the International Education Administrator Award and two received the Fulbright Specialist Award, according to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. The list of 2025-26 award recipients is below.
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program. Through the program, Penn State faculty members, staff and administrators have opportunities to conduct advanced research, teach or do both, as well as attend seminars, abroad. The program also affords recipients the opportunity to interact with, and make an impact on, their host communities during their Fulbright tenure.
The International Education Administrator Award is a fully funded opportunity for U.S. higher education administrators to participate in intensive two-week seminars abroad to learn about other countries’ higher education systems.
The Fulbright Specialist Program gives U.S. academics, administrators and staff opportunities to share their expertise with their counterparts at their host institutions abroad, build capacity, and learn new cultures in short-term projects of two to six weeks.
“The high level of interest in Fulbright at Penn State speaks to the excellence in global engagement of our faculty and staff,” said Sabine Klahr, vice provost for Penn State Global. “The Fulbright program provides exceptional opportunities for faculty, staff and students to meaningfully engage with their counterparts and host communities around the world. As the United States' flagship program for cultural exchange, Fulbright increases mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries, a foundation to building a peaceful, equitable, and sustainable world.”
On Nov. 17, to kick off International Education Week, Fulbrighters at Penn State came together for a celebratory luncheon. Sylvester Osagie, faculty Fulbright adviser; Kathy Bieschke, vice provost for Faculty Affairs; and Steven Rubin, professor of art in the College of Arts and Architecture; and Klahr provided updates on the Fulbright program.
“The success of our faculty and staff members in the Fulbright program goes hand-in-hand with their unwavering dedication to academic excellence, commitment to global engagement, and the strong support they receive from our administrative and academic leadership at the University,” Osagie said.
Penn State’s Fulbright recipients for 2025-26 and their host institutions/countries
Editor's note: This list of Fulbright recipients for 2025-26 is provided by the Institute of International Education and is accurate to the best of our knowledge as of Nov. 21, 2025. It will be updated on a rolling basis as new information is received.
U.S. Fulbright Scholars:
- Ana Enriquez, copyright officer and head, Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright, Penn State University Libraries, University Park; National Law School of India University, India
- John Lesieutre, professor of mathematics, Eberly College of Science, Penn State University Park; Indian Institute of Science, India
- Ermek Nurkhaidarov, associate professor, mathematics, Penn State Mont Alto; Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan
- Joseph Squillace, associate teaching professor of privacy and cybersecurity informatics, College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State University Park; Szechenyi Istvan University, Hungary
- Alexis Santos, associate professor of demography, and human development and family studies, College of Health and Human Development, Penn State University Park; Social Science Research Institute cofund; Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Nicole Stokes, professor of sociology, psychological and social sciences, director of Academic Partnerships and Institutional Grant Initiatives, Penn State Abington; Social Science Research Institute affiliate; American University in Cairo, Egypt
International Education Administration Awardee:
- Anna Marshall, associate director for Asia Partnerships at Penn State Global, University Park; the Japan-United States Educational Commission, Japan. Read more about Marshall's Fulbright experience here.
Fulbright Specialists:
- Betsy Campbell, associate teaching professor, human-centered computing and social informatics, College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State University Park; Novation City, Tunisia
- Ross Pifer, clinical professor, Penn State Dickinson Law, and director, Rural Economic Development Clinic and Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, Penn State University Park; Academy of Scientific Research & Technology, Cairo, Egypt
Started in 1946, the Fulbright program provides students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to important international problems.
For more information about the Fulbright program, contact Sylvester Osagie, University Faculty Fulbright adviser in Penn State Global, at fulbright@psu.edu.