Balaam to Bologna on Fulbright

Tacoma, Wash. – David Balaam, professor of international political economy at University of Puget Sound, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar Grant to lecture at the University of Bologna in Italy during the 2006-07 academic year, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Balaam is one of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Scholar Program.

Balaam has been a member of the Puget Sound faculty since 1978. He has taught courses in politics and government and now teaches in the international political economy program. During his tenure, he has received several distinguished teaching awards, as well as authored numerous books and articles on topics related to international political economy including, Introduction to International Political Economy (coauthored with Professor Michael Veseth).

When asked what receiving this award meant to him, Balaam responded, “It is an honor and privilege, both personally and professionally, to be selected. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to conduct research and teach at one of the oldest and most distinguished universities in Europe, and I’m looking forward to immersing myself in Italian culture!”

Balaam is a 1968 graduate of Lompoc High School. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in political science from California State University-Chico in 1972, and later a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in political science from UC-Santa Barbara.

Established in 1946, under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Scholar Program’s purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the rest of the world.

The Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international education exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its inception, the Fulbright Program has exchanged approximately 273,500 people, including 102,900 Americans who have studied, taught, or researched abroad and 170,600 students, scholars, and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the United States. The program operates in more than 150 countries worldwide.

There are many prominent Fulbright alumni since the program began, including: Craig Barrett, chairman of the board of Intel corporation; Mohamad Benaissa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Morocco; Raoul Cantero, Justice, Florida Supreme Court; Luis Ernesto Derbez, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mexico; Renee Fleming, soprano; Gish Jen, Writer; Dolores Kendrick, Poet Laureate of the District of Columbia; Daniel Libeskind, Architect; Aneesh Raman, CNN Baghdad Correspondent; Robert Shaye, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, New Line Cinema; Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University; Javier Solana, Foreign Policy Chief, European Union; Muhammed Yunus, Managing Director and Founder of the Grameen Bank. For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, visit the Fulbright Web site at http://exhanges.state.gov.