Fulbright New Zealand was established by bilateral treaty in 1948 to administer the Fulbright exchange programme in New Zealand. The Fulbright Programme aims to promote mutual understanding through educational and cultural exchanges, so nations might learn at last to live in peace and friendship.
The Fulbright Progamme
The Fulbright Programme was established in 1946 as an initiative of US Senator J. William Fulbright, to promote mutual understanding through educational and cultural exchanges between the US and other countries. Informed by his own exchange experience as a Rhodes Scholar, Senator Fulbright believed the programme could play an important role in building a lasting world peace in the aftermath of World War II.
The Fulbright Programme has been described as one of the largest and most significant movements of scholars across the face of the earth and now operates in over 155 countries, funding around 8,000 exchanges per year for participants to study, research, teach or present their work in another country.
In Senator Fulbright’s words, the programme aims “to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby to increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship.” This goal has always been as important to the programme as individual scholarship.
The Fulbright Act
The Fulbright Act (Public Law 584, 79th Congress) was an ingenious piece of legislation that was passed without opposition by the United States Congress in 1946, and directed proceeds from the sale of surplus war property, foreign loan repayments and reparations to fund the “promotion of international good will through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture, and science.”
Fulbright New Zealand
The New Zealand-United States Educational Foundation (trading as Fulbright New Zealand since 1999) was set up by bilateral treaty between the governments of New Zealand and the United States of America in 1948 to administer the Fulbright Programme in New Zealand. New Zealand was the fifth country to join the programme, and is now one of over 150 participating countries.
Fulbright New Zealand is jointly funded by the US and New Zealand governments with additional funding from award sponsors, private philanthropists and alumni donors. It is governed by an eight-member Board of Directors comprised of four New Zealanders and four Americans.
Further reading
Fulbright in New Zealand, a history written by Fulbright alumna Joan Druett on the occasion of Fulbright New Zealand’s 40th Anniversary, can be found online at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.
A further publication, Fulbright New Zealand 60th Anniversary, 1948-2008 is available to download here.