New Fulbright Research Chair to Attract Experts in Canadian Studies to SUNY

The new Fulbright Visiting Research Chair will strengthen collaborative networks between SUNY faculty and their Canadian counterparts, contributing to public discourse on Canada-U.S. relations.

The new partnership was announced today (Friday) at a signing ceremony attended by Robert L. King, chancellor of the State University of New York, Jamie Kiernan, chair of the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Board of Directors, Dr. John Ettling, president of SUNY Plattsburgh, and Michael Hawes, executive director of the Ottawa-based Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program, and Dr. Celine Paquette, SUNY trustee.

"This new initiative will contribute in important ways to addressing some of the complex issues facing our two nations," said Hawes.

In each year of the five-year agreement with the Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States, SUNY will welcome an outstanding Canadian scholar recommended by the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program. The visiting chair holder will spend one or two terms at the Center for the Study of Canada at SUNY Plattsburgh exploring questions surrounding the management of border issues, political relations and economic integration.

"The State University of New York is proud to participate with the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program in the establishment of a Fulbright Visiting Chair at SUNY Plattsburgh's Center for the Study of Canada," said King. "The Fulbright program is widely regarded as the finest program of its type because of its high academic standards and the superb quality of the scholars who participate. President Ettling and Executive Director Hawes are to be commended for their successful efforts in advancing scholarship on the important relationship between Canada and the United States of America."

Jamie Kiernan, chair of the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Board of Directors, said that the affiliations like this produce endless opportunities.

"Partnerships such as this between SUNY and the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program have the potential to greatly contribute to the development of strong and stable relations between our two countries," said Kiernan.

"I am very pleased to be here today to celebrate this new opportunity for collaboration among exceptional Canadian and American researchers."

Ettling said that this new partnership between SUNY and the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program will be an important educational as well as cultural venture for both.

"I look forward to our continued efforts to the betterment, friendship and understanding of our two countries, which have shared a common border and a close relationship for so many years," said Ettling.

Paquette, who co-chairs the SUNY Board of Trustees' Subcommittee on International Programs, said the partnership gives SUNY Plattsburgh and the Center for the Study of Canada a mark of distinction.

"This prestigious honor places SUNY Plattsburgh in the company of six other elite institutions across the United States. Dr. Christopher Kirkey (director of the Center) is to be commended for his hard work and complete devotion to enhancing the relationship between our two countries through the Center and its programs."

Long regarded as the world's premier academic exchange program, the Fulbright Program engages exceptional scholars from more than 150 countries worldwide in reciprocal educational exchanges. Among the fastest growing of the bilateral exchanges is the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program.

With the support of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, the United States Department of State, and a host of private sector partners, the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program has engaged more than 600 scholars in high-level academic exchange since its inception in 1990.

The new Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Canadian Studies builds on SUNY's impressive participation in the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program
During the past decade, three SUNY faculty members and seven graduates have been selected to participate in Fulbright exchanges. 

This year, Raghavendra Rao, professor of management science and systems at the University at Buffalo, along with Susan Maguire, doctoral candidate in archaeology, also at the University at Buffalo, will be taking up prestigious Canada-U.S. Fulbright awards in Toronto.

The Center for the Study of Canada at SUNY Plattsburgh was established in 1975. It is dedicated to promoting and providing comprehensive scholarly professional development programs on Canada to academic, government and business constituents in the United States.

Recognized as a Title VI National Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Education since 1983, the Center is at the forefront of innovative Canadian-focused curriculum, research and program initiatives. The Center is proud to offer the most comprehensive undergraduate Canadian Studies program in the U.S.

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