How To Host a Fulbright Scholar

Help make Duke a more international and diverse place.

-By Duke Global Staff

January 21, 2022

There’s an easy way to bring the most talented scholars from around the world to Duke, and it’s called the Fulbright Visiting Scholars Program.

While hosting a Fulbright Visiting Scholar is easy, the rewards can be very high. As Charlie Becker, Research Professor of Economics notes, “I host Fulbright scholars because they tend to come from countries and universities that would never otherwise have the chance to interact with a major research university. The Duke experience can be profoundly transformative for them and also generates great goodwill toward the United States.”

Visiting scholars add a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives to research projects as well as to the overall community.

There are few barriers for faculty interested in hosting non-degree scholars. And there is no cost to hosting a scholar beyond access to our facilities and programs.

The process is simple, says AVP for Global Affairs Eve Duffy, “Faculty receive a letter of inquiry from an applicant or their representative from the Fulbright commission (or IIE) after the candidates have been vetted by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.” If they wish to host the scholar, Duke faculty write a letter of invitation and complete the institutional reply from IIE.  Visit the Office of Global Affairs’ Fulbright page to learn more.

Duke faculty should consider whether the research interests of the visiting scholar match with theirs, and whether they have the time to develop a fruitful and ongoing collaboration.

Visiting Fulbright Scholars from the Global South have been particularly successful in advancing their careers after their time at Duke “One scholar I hosted, Arturas Rozenas, is now a tenured professor of political science,” states Becker.

“It’s an important program,” concludes Duffy, “and one that we hope to continue to support and grow.”