Chancellor Joan Gabel has been named chair of the Fulbright Scholar Advisory Board

After three years as a member, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel has risen to the role of chair of the Fulbright Scholar Advisory Board (CIES). Sarah Ilchman, co-president of the Institute of International Education (IIE) and ex officio member of the board, announced Gabel’s three-year appointment at the board’s meeting yesterday.

Fulbright Scholar Advisory Board (CIES) is an independent body providing guidance on the Fulbright Scholar Program’s administration and trajectory to the IIE, the program’s administrating agency, and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The board includes higher education experts from a variety of colleges, universities and institutions dedicated to furthering international education and multicultural understanding.

As a Fulbright scholar in 2018, Gabel studied higher education practices in India.

“I am honored to accept this role with the Fulbright Scholar Advisory Board,” said Gabel. “As a Fulbright alum, I am a beneficiary of the life-changing impact that this experience creates, and I look forward to nurturing and growing the program to ensure the same opportunities for the next generation and beyond.”

Since its inception in 1946, Fulbright has provided approximately 400,000 participants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and study, teach or conduct research in each others’ countries, awarding nearly 8,000 grants annually.

Photography by Aimee Obidzinski