Former USF President and former chair Fulbright Scholarship Board, the Hon. Betty
Castor, USF President Moez Limayem, IIE President and CEO, Jason Czyz, and USF World
Vice President, Dr. Kiki Caruson.The 深夜看片 celebrated its Fulbright faculty, administrators, and international scholars at the 2026 Fulbright Awards & Celebration at the Judy Genshaft Honors College. The ceremony not only recognized the vital role international exchange plays in shaping global learning and deepening cross-cultural understanding.
It was also an opportunity to celebrate USF鈥檚 10th time as a Top Producer of Fulbright Scholars since 2015. USF is the only public university in Florida to be recognized as a Top Producer this year.
Sponsored by USF World and the Judy Genshaft Honors College, the March 4 event recognized 37 members of the campus community who had been selected for and participated in the iconic global knowledge exchange program that鈥檚 been at the heart of advancing international relations. The Fulbright Program is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.
This year鈥檚 honorees include USF faculty scholars conducting research in countries such as Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, India, Kazakhstan, the Maldives and Eswatini, as well as visiting scholars and graduate students from Indonesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Portugal, and Romania. The ceremony also acknowledged the five USF Fulbright students who were awarded in August 2025 as they are currently researching overseas. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is led by the USF Office of National Scholars which is housed in the Judy Genshaft Honors College.
USF Provost Prasant Mohapatra, USF College of Engineering Professor Mauricio Arias and President Moez Limayem celebrated the Fulbright Program, under which Arias conducted research in Mexico.
Tasnim Diana is a visiting Fulbright Scholar from Bangladesh at the Patel College of Global Sustainability.
Joining the event was USF President Moez Limayem, who while serving as dean of the Muma College of Business in 2018 was awarded a Fulbright International Education Administrators Program award to travel to Japan. President Limayem credited the opportunity with helping identify strategic partners and recruit students from Japan for USF.
President Limayem, just in his first month as USF鈥檚 ninth president, told the gathering that Fulbright and global exchange will continue to be a hallmark of the university鈥檚 academic, research and innovation culture. USF has had one of the nation鈥檚 leading Fulbright scholar initiatives for the past decade and is the only public university in Florida to be named a top producer of Fulbright scholars.
USF President Moez Limayem welcomes and inspires audience with his own Fulbright experience
in Japan.鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter where you come from, you will find somebody like you here at USF,鈥 President Limayem said, noting the campus community hails from around the world 鈥渢o discuss, to learn, to exchange ideas.
鈥淭his is what USF is all about.鈥
The event鈥檚 keynote address was delivered by Jason Czyz, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education, who leads multiple international programs funded by the U.S. Department of State, foundations and universities worldwide, including implementing the Fulbright Program. An international attorney with a long history of advising government in utility and energy law, Czyz shared his experiences studying abroad and the profound impact it had on his education and eventual career.
Initially funded for its first decade from the sale of Army surplus equipment following World War II, Czyz noted that about 40% of the Fulbright Program funding now comes from international partners. Since its founding, 63 Nobel Prize laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners and 46 current or former heads of state or government; some 450,000 scholars and students have participated in the program.
鈥淲hen students, scholars, artists and professionals cross borders, they change not only their own lives but the trajectory of the relationships between nations." 鈥 Jason Czyz
鈥淲hen students, scholars, artists and professionals cross borders, they change not only their own lives but the trajectory of the relationships between nations,鈥 he said. 鈥溾 The enduring importance of the Fulbright Program lies in its insistence that people-to-people connection is not a luxury. It is essential for global stability and progress.鈥
Prasant Mohapatra underscored the value of the Fulbright Program and expressed gratitude to university leadership and staff for their steadfast support that enables Fulbright scholars to engage with communities around the world and bring global insights back to USF, strengthening the university in meaningful ways.
Together, the scholars recognized at the gathering represent a broad range of disciplines 鈥 from civil and environmental engineering and computer science to public health, education, religious studies, and political science 鈥 underscoring USF鈥檚 commitment to international research collaboration and cross-cultural exchange.
Fulbright Honorees
Click photo to enlarge.
Access the Digital Program to view Fulbright honorees and their projects