Lewis & Clark a Top-20 School for Fulbright Scholarships

Lewis & Clark ranks among the top 20 undergraduate colleges in the country in the production of Fulbright Award winners for 2008-2009, according to new rankings released by the Chronicle of Higher Education (.pdf).

Lewis & Clark's six Fulbright winners are the most of any undergraduate college in the Northwest, and higher than several other nationally renowned institutions such as Middlebury, Grinnell, and Wesleyan, noted Julio de Paula (pictured), dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. Seventy-five percent of Lewis & Clark's applicants for this year's scholarships were successful, a mark exceeded by just one college in the ranking of undergraduate institutions.

"To rank in the top 20 in the production of Fulbright winners serves as powerful validation of the quality of teaching, learning, and research that happens at Lewis & Clark everyday," de Paula said.

The Fulbright distinction continues a recent run of national recognition of Lewis & Clark's academic leadership. Also in recent months, the Portland school has won a prestigious $1.3 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and three Lewis & Clark students have won the coveted Goldwater scholarship for leadership in math and science.

"We are proud to educate the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and innovators, and prepare them for careers serving the global public good," said de Paula, the co-author of several leading chemistry textbooks and a member of advisory committees at the National Science Foundation, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and several private foundations. "We know this is so important to this country's future economic security and meeting the world's humanitarian needs in the decades ahead."

The country's largest international exchange program, the Fulbrights offer opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.

For more information about Lewis & Clark's six Fulbright winners, see their profiles.