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Sachin Shetty, associate professor, Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center

Jesse Richman, associate professor, Department of Political Science & Geography

By David Simpson

Ever wish you could travel around the world to pursue your academic passion, while funded by a prestigious fellowship? It's possible through the Fulbright Program's many initiatives.

On Nov. 19 an audience at Perry Library heard from these three faculty members about their experiences as Fulbright scholars:

• Debbie Gray (clinical associate professor, School of Nursing), Core Scholar Grant and Regional Travel Grant, Botswana and Ghana
• Sachin Shetty (associate professor and associate director, Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center), Specialist Grant, Iceland
• Jesse Richman (associate professor, Political Science & Geography), U.S. Scholar Grant, Hungary

For Gray, the Fulbright Program was truly life-changing, she said. "I had no idea when I went I was going to be doing some of the things that I did."

In 2018 she worked at the University of Botswana to increase the number of nurse practitioners and advanced nurse practitioners in Africa. She taught a class and helped set up the university's first synchronous/asynchronous online program.

For the World Health Organization she helped develop telehealth programs and web-based distance learning for nurses.

What's more, while she was in Botswana she wrote a separate Regional Travel grant that allowed her to help the University of Ghana develop an online version of one of its programs.

At the November gathering she talked about her Core Scholar Grant, which lasted a year, and what it takes to prepare for a Fulbright in general.

First, research potential host countries, she said. After settling on one, keep in mind that the purpose of your visit is to make an impact there. So when you're writing your proposal you must emphasize the effects your tenure will have.

If you get the grant, you must then think about your accommodations, banking, health care, transportation and visa. You also have to arrange for someone to replace you at Â鶹¹ú²úAV while you're away.

As a Core Scholar your role is to be an ambassador for the United States, Gray said. Those scholars undergo training with the State Department before leaving home.

Gray advised faculty to plan as much as two years ahead.

"It doesn't happen overnight," she said.

For his Fulbright grant Sachin Shetty was able to avoid a lot of the crafting, planning and pitching. He didn't even have to apply. Instead, he was recruited to go to Iceland for six weeks to focus on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure.

The email caught him off guard when it arrived the week before Thanksgiving 2018: Can you go to Iceland on Jan. 1? After some negotiating he agreed to start March 1, 2019, under a six-week Fulbright Specialist Grant offered through a partnership between the Fulbright Program and the National Science Foundation. (In the end he was asked to stay on two extra weeks, for which he was compensated.)

Why the urgent request? The NSF, Shetty said, has taken a strong interest in bolstering network security in Scandinavian countries.

So at the University of Iceland, Shetty taught a cybersecurity class — the school's first ever. As he worked with his students, he was surprised at how easy it was to gain access to the university's computer networks.

"It was an insight into the culture," he said, "which I guess is the culture of a nation that is living on an island where 'this is all we know — we have nothing to hide.'"

For the final project he asked his students to analyze vulnerabilities and come up with ideas for tightening security. Shetty then presented the list to administrators and said, "If you want that to be implemented, hire those students."

As for his research in Iceland, he was pleased to work with international partners to see how his "U.S.-centric" approach translated elsewhere. They collaborated on such topics as bioinformatics, cyber insurance, and the promotion of cybersecurity awareness.

Especially gratifying was the access he had to high government officials, including the nation's president and his staff.

"It almost feels like I'm living in Norfolk and the entire country's power center is in Norfolk," Shetty said. "That's what it felt like. That access was immense."

Jesse Richman's current U.S. Scholar Grant in Budapest is giving him a new perspective.

He's teaching classes at the National University of Public Service this semester and studying the rise of right-wing populism in Hungary.

He said via a video recording that he has students from Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, and the Netherlands.

"That makes it a fun and fascinating opportunity to get to know people from all over Europe and to discuss topics involving politics with all of them," he said.

He and a university colleague also led a program about the political situation in the U.S. and the 2020 presidential election. The event played to a full house, he said.

"These opportunities to reflect on the United States from abroad have been one of the surprising and fun aspects of being here."

"Faculty Perspectives on Fulbright Awards" was presented by Â鶹¹ú²úAV's Office of Research. Faculty interested in the Fulbright Program should contact that office.