Murray State University named a top producer of students receiving prestigious Fulbright award

MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State University has been named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for U.S. students by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This recognition is given to the U.S. colleges and universities that received the highest number of applicants selected for the 2022-2023 Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Murray State is the only regional comprehensive university in Kentucky to make this list. Four students from Murray State were selected for Fulbright awards for the 2022-2023 academic year, making it the highest producing year for the University. The 2022-2023 recipients of this prestigious award include Victoria Benard, Jaden Estes, Jasmine Neal and Mallory Wooldridge.

Fulbright is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. It is also among the largest and most diverse exchange programs in the world. Since its inception in 1946, more than 400,000 participants from all backgrounds and fields – including recent university graduates, teachers, scientists, researchers, artists and others, from the United States and over 160 other countries – have participated in the Fulbright Program. Fulbright alumni have returned to their home countries to make an impact on their communities thanks to their expanded worldview, a deep appreciation for their host country and its people, and a larger network of colleagues and friends.  

"One of the most visible academic achievements for our students and University is the receipt of Fulbright Scholarships,” said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson. “We have been recognized as a top institution in the U.S. in this area along with other distinguished universities. This is the first time in our 100-year history that we have been recognized in this manner and we are very proud of our students, faculty and staff who have worked to make this possible." 

Among master’s degree granting institutions, Murray State ranks in the top 15% of the 2022-2023 list of top Fulbright producers. 

“On behalf of President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken, congratulations to the colleges and universities recognized as 2022-2023 Fulbright Top Producing Institutions, and to all the applicants who were selected for the Fulbright Program this year,” said Lee Satterfield, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. “Thanks to the visionary leadership of these institutions, administrators and advisors, a new generation of Fulbrighters – changemakers, as I like to say – will catalyze lasting impact on their campus, in their communities, and around the world.”

“Murray State University’s place among the Fulbright Program’s 2022-2023 Top Producing Institutions clearly demonstrates your dedication to preparing Americans to thrive in the global economy and serve as engaged citizens,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.

The Fulbright competition is administered at Murray State through the University’s Honors College. Honors student development counselors work closely with interested students to prepare and guide them through the application writing process, and arrange for faculty committees to evaluate and recommend applicants. The Honors staff also mentors students not in Honors who are recommended to them by University faculty members, and one such student was selected by Fulbright in both 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.  All four 2022-2023 Fulbright recipients graduated from the Honors College. For more information on the Honors College, please visit murraystate.edu/honors. 

“It is an honor for Murray State University to be recognized as a top producing institution. This award would not be possible without our amazing students, faculty and staff,” said Dominique Suiter, Murray State University Fulbright program advisor.

The Fulbright Program was established over 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. While the primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, it benefits from additional support from foreign partner governments, non-governmental organizations, private organizations, corporate partnerships and individual donors. Importantly, U.S. and foreign host institutions provide support as well. 

Fulbright alumni work to make a positive impact on their communities, sectors, and the world and have included 41 heads of state or government, 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and countless leaders and changemakers who carry forward the Fulbright mission of enhancing mutual understanding.  

For more information about the Fulbright Program please visit fulbrightprogram.org. For more information on the Murray State University Fulbright Program please visit contact program advisor Dominique Suiter at dsuiter1@murraystate.edu.