Fulbright Program - Notable Alumni

Notable Alumni

Fulbright alumni have occupied key roles in government, academia, and industry.

  • 10 have been elected to US Congress
  • 18 have served as head of state or government
  • 1 has served as secretary general of the United Nations
  • 43 have received a Nobel Prize
  • 78 have received the Pulitzer Prize

The following list is a selected group of notable Fulbright grant recipients:

  • Ralph Abraham, American mathematician
  • Cephas Yao Agbemenu African Art Professor and Traditional African Wood Carver-Traveler
  • Debabrata Basu, the India-born mathematical-statistician, Florida State University
  • Raj Aggarwal, American business and finance professor, former dean of University of Akron College of Business Administration
  • Shamshad Akhtar, Pakistani banker, former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (2006–2009)
  • Arlene Alda, American author, photographer, and musician
  • Karim Alrawi, Egyptian/British author and playwright
  • Augusto Álvarez Rodrich, Peruvian economist and journalist
  • Harold Amos, American microbiologist and professor
  • Francis Andersen, Australian Hebrew and biblical studies scholar
  • Nancy Andreasen, American neuroscientist, recipient of the National Medal of Science in 2000
  • Richard Antoun, American professor of anthropology at Binghamton University, murdered by graduate student in 2009
  • Sima Avramovic, Serbian law professor and legal author
  • Craig Barrett, Former Chairman of the Board of Intel Corporation
  • Gad Barzilai, Professor of International Studies, Law, and Political Science, University of Washington
  • Ed Bishop, American Actor, Radio and Theatre Productions UFO TV Series
  • Melissa Block, American radio host, co-host of All Things Considered on National Public Radio
  • Amar Bose, Chairman and founder of Bose Corporation
  • David G. Bradley, Owner of the Atlantic Media Company and founder of the Advisory Board Company and the Corporate Executive Board
  • Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, American research scientist
  • Michael Bryant, Canadian politician, former Attorney General of Ontario
  • Storm Bull, American musician, composer, and educator
  • Liam Byrne, British Labour politician
  • Steven Campbell, Scottish artist
  • Bob Carr, Australian politician
  • Ron Castan, Australian Constitutional law barrister
  • Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
  • A. D. Coleman, American photography critic and author
  • Nathan Collett, filmmaker
  • Aaron Copland, American composer
  • Leah Curtis, Australian composer
  • Jose Dalisay, Jr., Filipino writer
  • Ivan Davis, classical pianist
  • Barbara Debs, Former president of Manhattanville College (1975–1985)
  • Richard Debs, American investment banker, founding president of Morgan Stanley International Inc.
  • Daniel Dennett, American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist
  • Niels Diffrient, American industrial designer
  • William C. Dowling, scholar, author, social critic
  • John W. Downey, contemporary classical composer
  • Peter Drysdale, economist, his work provided the intellectual foundations for the establishment of APEC
  • William Durden, president of Dickinson College
  • Taghreed El-Khodary, journalist
  • Erik Engstrom, CEO of Reed Elsevier
  • Jan Erkert, modern dance artist
  • Lee Evans, Olympic gold medalist
  • John T. Fesperman, conductor and organist
  • Charles Figley, president of the Green Cross academy of traumatology
  • Christian Filippella, film director and writer
  • Andrea Fitting, founder and CEO of Fitting Group, a challenger branding agency
  • Renée Fleming, soprano
  • John Miles Foley, scholar of comparative oral tradition
  • Carlo Forlivesi, composer and researcher
  • John Hope Franklin, James B. Duke professor emeritus of history at Duke University and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
  • Jonathan Franzen, novelist
  • John R. P. French, psychologist
  • András Gerevich, poet and screenwriter
  • Riccardo Giacconi, physicist and 2002 Nobel Laureate
  • Gabrielle Giffords, US Congresswoman
  • Austan Goolsbee, economist and Presidential advisor
  • Solomon W. Golomb, American mathematician; inventor of polyominoes, the inspiration for the computer game Tetris.
  • Milton Glaser, graphic designer
  • Phillip Glass American composer
  • Betty Jane Gorin-Smith, Kentucky historian
  • George J. Graham, Jr., political theorist
  • John Granville, United States Agency for International Development diplomat assassinated in Sudan
  • Harold J. Grimm, Professor of History and an authority on the Protestant Reformation
  • Charles Gwathmey, architect
  • Zahi Hawass, Secretary General, The Supreme Council of Antiquities; Egypt
  • Neville Karunatilake, Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka
  • Joseph Heller, author
  • Deborah Hertz, Herman Wouk Chair in Modern Jewish Studies at the University of California, San Diego
  • Christof Heyns, Professor of Human Rights, former Dean of the University of Pretoria Faculty of Law and United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
  • Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President of Operations and Google Fellow at Google Inc.
  • Hao Huang, pianist and professor of music and American Studies
  • Edgar Hull, Louisiana physician
  • Greg Hunt, Australian Politician
  • Saeed Jaffrey, actor and recipient of an OBE
  • Trevor Joyce, poet and member of Aosdana
  • Alex Kahn, pageant performance artist
  • Kusuma Karunaratne, Sri Lankan academic, university administrator, professor and scholar of Sinhalese language and literature
  • Willliam Kelly American/Australian artist, humanist and human-rights advocate and former Dean (1975–1982) of the Victorian College of the Arts, Australia.
  • Malur R. Narasimha Prasad or M. R. N. Prasad, Indian Endocrinologist and scientist at World Health Organisation.


  • Shirley Strum Kenny, president of Stony Brook University
  • H.T. Kirby-Smith, author and poet
  • Werner Krieglstein, a German-American University of Chicago fellow, philosopher, author, and actor
  • S.M. Krishna, Former chief minister of Karnataka, India, and the current Foreign Minister of India
  • Laila Lalami, author and essayist
  • Karen LaMonte, artist with works in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the De Young Museum, and others.
  • Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Diplomat and Member of the European Parliament
  • Ben Lerner, poet
  • Jack Levine, American painter and printmaker
  • Samer Libdeh, journalist and researcher
  • Daniel Libeskind, Polish-born American architect
  • William S.W. Lim, Hong Kong architect and author
  • John Lithgow, actor
  • Alvin Lucier, composer of experimental music
  • Dolph Lundgren, actor and director
  • Reinhard H Luthin, historian and author
  • Robie Macauley, novelist, editor and literary critic
  • G. S. Maddala, econometrician
  • Germain Marc'hadour, French literary historian
  • Walter E. Massey, physicist, former president of Morehouse College and Chairman (2009) of Bank of America.
  • Arthur Chute McGill, American Theologian and the Bussey Professor of Theology at Harvard from 1971 until 1980.
  • Martin V. Melosi, environmental and urban historian, University of Houston
  • John Mendelsohn, president of the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
  • William D. Metz, historian and heritage conservation scholar
  • George Armitage Miller, psychologist and cognitive scientist
  • John Atta Mills, president of Ghana
  • Anna Moffo, operatic soprano
  • Jürgen Mulert, economist, founder of the German Fulbright Alumni Association
  • Loretta Napoleoni, economist, author, journalist and political analyst
  • Robert Neffson, artist
  • Donna Nelson, chemistry professor and scientific workforce scholar
  • Marcus Nispel, film director
  • Robert Nozick, American political philosopher
  • Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg, president and CEO of Strategic Investment Group
  • Bamidele A. Ojo, professor of political science and international studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University
  • Carlos Ott, Uruguayan architect
  • Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, First female vice chancellor of a Ghanaian university
  • Olara Otunnu, Ugandan advocate for child rights, and Uganda Presidential Candidate in 2010
  • Tarik O'Regan, composer
  • Ron Padgett, American poet and translator
  • Peggy Pettitt, African-American actor and storyteller
  • Thomas R. Pickering, former US under secretary of state for political affairs
  • Sebastián Piñera, current president of Chile
  • Sylvia Plath, poet
  • Michael Pyatok, architect, Professor of Architecture at the University of Washington in Seattle
  • Fazlur Rahman Khan, structural engineer
  • Aneesh Raman, former CNN Middle East Correspondent
  • Som Ranchan, Professor, author, and critic of Indian origin.
  • Bertram Raven, psychologist
  • John Rawls, Philosopher
  • David Reagan, former director of Pepperdine University's Center for International Business, currently an evangelist and founder of Lamb and Lion Ministries
  • Stephan Reimertz, writer and art historian
  • Michael A. Rice, biologist and Rhode Island and state representative.
  • Oussama Romdhani, former Tunisian Communications Minister
  • Michele van de Roer, contemporary French artist, painter, designer, and engraver
  • Brian Rutenberg, American Abstract Artist
  • Stefan Sagmeister, Graphic Designer and Typographer
  • Theodore J. St. Antoine, Dean of University of Michigan School of Law and expert in labor relations and collective bargaining
  • Nilofar Sakhi, women's rights activist in Afghanistan
  • Ross Scaife, Founder and co-editor of The Stoa: A Consortium for Electronic Publication in the Humanities and founding editor of Suda On Line
  • Philip Schultz Poet
  • Benjamin Schwarz, literary editor and national editor, The Atlantic
  • Ruth J. Simmons, president of Brown University
  • Matt Sherman, former Department of State official and advisor to Generals Stanley McChrystal and David Petraeus
  • Jane Smiley, American author
  • Tom Smith, jazz musician, educator
  • Javier Solana, former Secretary General of NATO and former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy
  • Olen Steinhauer, author
  • Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize winning economist
  • F. Gordon A. Stone, English chemist and recipient of the Davy Medal
  • Terence Tao, mathematician, recipient of the Fields Medal
  • Julie Taymor, designer and director
  • Alfredo Toro Hardy, Venezuelan Ambassador to the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Ireland and Singapore
  • Massimiliano Versace, scientist and director of the Neuromorphics Lab at Boston University
  • Ernesto Villalobos, Mexican composer and award-winning violinist
  • Bernt Wahl, American mathematician, entrepreneur, author and Industry Fellow at U.C. Berkeley
  • Patricia Wasley, dean of the College of Education at the University of Washington and renowned education scholar
  • Ulrich Wickert, German journalist and TV presenter
  • Colin H Williams, Professor, School of Welsh, Cardiff University
  • Charles Wright, Poet
  • Jonathan Shapiro ("Zapiro"), South African cartoonist
  • Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi economist and founder of Grameen Bank, Nobel Prize winner
  • Malini Khatri, Headmistress, Sir Sobha Singh Block, Modern School Barakhamba Road, New Delhi

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