February 1, 2005

UCSB, Canada Agree to Create Visiting Fulbright Research Chair

Bill Schlotter

The University of California, Santa Barbara will play host to a visiting scholar from Canada for four months each year thanks to a program being developed by UCSB's College of Letters and Science, Canada's Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States of America, and the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board.

The Fulbright Visiting Research Chair will be open to Canadian scholars in any one of a wide array of disciplines, contingent upon the applicant meeting program requirements. The selected scholar will collaborate with UCSB colleagues engaged in similar research, will teach and consult with UCSB students, and will share insights with the UCSB and Santa Barbara community in public lectures during the visit, which will last one academic quarter. UCSB will host one such scholar each year.

Formal signing of the five-year agreement will take place Wednesday, Feb. 2, with Aaron Ettenberg, acting provost of the College of Letters and Science, signing for UCSB, and Michael K. Hawes, executive director, signing for the Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States of America.

"We are excited that Fulbright and the Canadian consulate general's office have worked with us to support this unique opportunity to encourage and foster collaborative research between scholars at UCSB and their counterparts at Canadian institutions," Ettenberg said. "Our goal is to sponsor Canadian scholars whose research interests complement those of faculty and students here at UCSB.

Award recipients will teach a course, provide public lectures, and engage in discussions and collaborative work that ultimately will serve to further enrich the outstanding research and instructional environment that we enjoy on our campus."

Applicants will apply to the Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States in Ottawa.

The Foundation will review the applications and send a list of recommended applicants to UCSB and to the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board for review. The three partners will cooperate in selecting a recipient. UCSB and the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program each will contribute $25,000 per year in support of this initiative. The first scholar could be on campus as early as fall 2005.

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.