Fulbright Association

Established on February 27, 1977, the Fulbright Association is a private, nonprofit organization whose members are Fulbright Program alumni and friends of international education. The Association supports and promotes international educational and cultural exchange and the ideal most associated with the Fulbright name—mutual understanding among the peoples of the world.

The Fulbright Association engages current and former Fulbright exchange participants in lifelong experiences that advance international understanding through volunteer service to communities, people-to-people diplomacy, and dialogue on global issues. Fulbright Association members form the active constituency for Fulbright exchanges to ensure that they continue to benefit future generations.

The Association has led to the development of similar membership associations across the globe. The U.S. Fulbright Association's interest and ability to further a global network of Fulbright alumni associations was formally recognized in 1983 by the executive directors of Fulbright Commissions in Europe and Israel in the following resolution: "We recognize that the experience and support of former Fulbrighters can help to maintain the high quality of the Fulbright Program in the future; we shall assist the formation and activities of Fulbright alumni within our respective countries; and we shall encourage their cooperation with the Fulbright Alumni Association of the United States of America."

To communicate the importance of the Fulbright Program, the Association developed three signature events. In October 1993, the Association launched the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, awarding the inaugural prize to former South African President Nelson R. Mandela in a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State. The Fulbright Association has selected as Fulbright Prize laureates four world leaders—Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, and Martti Ahtisaari—before they were named Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The Coca-Cola Foundation supported the Fulbright Prize with generous grants from 1993 through 2008. The Prize is now supported through an endowment made possible by the late John B. Hurford, a former Fulbright Association officer and director, and through the generous gifts of alumni and friends. In 1993, the Fulbright Association also held the first special event benefit in its history, an 88th Birthday Tribute to Senator Fulbright. The benefit involved President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in paying tribute to Senator Fulbright through the award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The first Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medals were awarded in 2000 to Fulbright alumni Arlene Alda,Barbara Knowles Debs, and Richard A. Debs. The Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal honors Fulbright alumni whose distinguished careers and civic and cultural contributions seek to expand the boundaries of human wisdom, empathy, and perception. Recipients of the Medal show exemplary commitments to creative leadership and liberal education.