UW-River Falls Physics Professor Vonk Named Fulbright Ambassador

September 9, 2014--Matthew Vonk, associate professor of Physics at UW-River Falls, has been named a Fulbright Ambassador by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, a division of the Institute of International Education (IIE).  

The Fulbright Scholar Program supports more than 800 United States faculty and professionals each year, allowing them to teach or conduct research in 125 countries around the world. To support their goal of increasing the diversity of the scholars who participate in the program and the range of higher education institutions represented, IIE launched the Fulbright Alumni Ambassador Program. Over a two-year period, Fulbright Ambassadors play a key role in promoting Fulbright grants to other faculty and campus administrators. 

During the spring semester of 2010, Vonk received a Fulbright award that allowed him to live in Managua, Nicaragua, where he taught at the National Engineering University.

"I'm looking forward to meeting people who are considering making this potentially life-changing decision; people who are about to embark on something that, odds are, I would love to do also," said Vonk. "They are stepping outside of their routine to make a positive connection to other countries and cultures. That's really exciting to me. Being an ambassador allows me to encourage them and participate in their Fulbright stories even as I reflect on my own rewarding experience in Nicaragua." 

Travel and other expenses of the Fulbright Ambassadors are supported through private funding raised by trusteed and donors of the Institute through IIE's Fulbright Legacy Fund. 

For more information on the Fulbright Ambassadors program, visit www.cies.org/alumni-ambassadors, or contact Vonk at 715-425-3196 or email matthew.vonk@uwrf.edu.