Newswise — Because the Fulbright Program has awarded thousands of grants to scientists from the Muslim world, the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (FAST) has a program specifically designed to enhance relationships between Muslim scientists and scientists in the United States.
This year, FAST has been focusing on Libya, a country which for many years had no diplomatic relations with the USA. The FAST science diplomacy initiative with Libya began in February, when 20 Libyan scientists attended the Academy's Third Annual Conference, held at Northeastern University in Boston. A special half-day program was led by David Nothmann, a senior manager at Monsanto and President of the FAST Board of Directors; Khalifa Tamer, President of the Libyan Students Union-USA; and William Lawrence, Manager of the Muslim World Science Partnership Program in the US Department of State, Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science.
The Libyan Students Union-USA and the University of Colorado at Denver helped FAST with organizing a follow-up "Fulbright Academy-Libyan Dialogue and Reception" in Denver. The meeting was hosted by Dean Renjeng Su of the UCD College of Engineering and Carolyn North of the UCD Office of International Affairs. After the initial introductions, a two hour session was held discussing issues relating to higher education for Libyan students in the United States.
The goal of the April 16 meeting was a unique opportunity for Libyan professionals and graduate students from the fields of pharmacy, immunology, architecture, business management, and engineering to meet with American scientists. Looking toward the future, FAST will continue to seek out opportunities for building ties among the world's scientists, with programs in 2008 with Ecuador, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, and Singapore.
FAST is an international organization that brings together Fulbright scholars and alumni for dialogue, discussion and collaboration. It is not affiliated with the Fulbright Exchange Program or the State Department's Bureau of Education & Cultural Affairs, and so FAST initiatives are funded by foundations, government agencies, universities and private citizens. The Muslim world program started in 2006 with an on-going initiative to help establish a digital library for North Africa was initially funded by UNESCO, NSF and the Government of Morocco. FAST is also working with NASA and others to upgrade and repair Morocco's largest telescope and planetarium.
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