Jordan Times
Friday, December 17, 2004
Fulbright commission
increases endowment
By Rami Abdelrahman
AMMAN — Jordanian students seeking to pursue
higher education in the US now have better chances of receiving scholarships
through the Binational Fulbright Commission (BFC), as it received a JD3 million
increase to its endowment on Thursday.
The increase was made possible by a grant agreement between the US Agency for
International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Finance, which will
receive and transfer the funds to the Fulbright Commission.
The increase brings to JD8 million ($11.2 million) the total endowment of the
commission, enabling it to offer more opportunities for Jordanians to pursue
fully-funded study, scholar and professional programmes in the US.
These funds are invested by the commission to provide annual revenue that
enables expanded scholarship opportunities for Jordanian students, academics and
professionals in the United States, according to a US embassy statement.
Since its establishment 10 years ago, the Fulbright Commission has provided
scholarships to about 200 Jordanians, but the number is now likely to increase
with this development.
Attending the signing ceremony, US Charge d'Affaires David Hale noted that
Fulbright-sponsored exchanges not only build friendships, mutual understanding
and respect, but also make a direct contribution to the advancement and progress
of both societies involved.
“Academic and professional exchanges are the building blocks for greater
understanding. The exposure Fulbright scholars and professionals receive in the
course of their programmes often results in new and creative approaches in their
profession or field of study,” Hale said.
The Binational Fulbright Commission in Jordan is an independent, nonprofit
organisation responsible for the administration of prestigious grants awarded on
a competitive basis to Jordanian and American students, teachers and scholars to
study, teach, lecture and conduct research in the United States and in Jordan.
According to Finance Minister Mohammad Abu Hammour, the governments of Jordan
and the US, the BFC and USAID consider the scholarship programme as a top
priority, as it supports hundreds of Jordanian graduate students and
professionals completing their higher education in areas needed for sustainable
development.
William Fulbright, for whom this programme is named, was a US senator from the
state of Missouri for nearly 30 years. As a Rhodes Scholar, and later as the
longest-serving chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in history,
Senator Fulbright appreciated and believed in the power of direct, personal and
life-long contact between cultures as a way to build understanding and peace,
according to Hale.