Our History

Throughout our history, we have been
committed to global education from the very beginning.

And today, more than ever, that commitment continues.

  • 1946

     

    The beginning of a dream

    After completing his higher education at the University of Arkansas, Senator J. William Fulbright received a Rhoads Scholarship to study for three years at Oxford University and spend an additional six months in Vienna. It was this visit to another continent that awakened in the senator the belief to promote academic mobility and exchange between the United States and the rest of the world as an effective mechanism for cooperation and peace among nations.

  • Classrooms that inspire

    After World War II in 1946, Senator J. William Fulbright created the program with the aim of contributing to global peace and the creation of cooperative relationships between nations through education, culture, and science. Today, it serves as a model of international cooperation that is present in 160 countries and has benefited more than 400,000 people worldwide.

     

    1946

  • 1957

     

    A New Academic Era for Colombia

    Initially, in the postwar period, the Fulbright program was located in 27 countries, predominantly in Europe and Asia. Following the program’s success in its first decade of existence, the US Congress approved the creation of 15 new commissions, eight of which were in Latin America, including the commission in Colombia. On January 9, 1957, the Fulbright Commission in Colombia was established as an international organization through the 1957 constitutive treaty.

  • Building peace for the future

    Over 69 years of cooperation between the governments of Colombia and the United States of America, nearly 5,000 people have benefited from the program to pursue graduate studies and advanced research fellowships in both countries.

     

    1957 – Said

  • 2007

     

    An award that celebrates the Fulbright spirit

    In 2007, the Fulbright Colombia Excellence Award was created to recognize the work of Colombian Fulbrighters for their career achievements, excellence in their fields of knowledge, high professional performance, and their efforts in creating academic and professional networks in our country. Over the last five years, this prize has been awarded to Adriana Pulido (2021), Fulbright Saldarriaga Concha Scholarship 2011; Clemente Forero Pineda (2020), J. William Fulbright Scholarship 1968; Andrés Jaramillo Botero (2019), Fulbright 1988; Brigitte Baptiste (2018), Fulbright Laspau Scholarship 1991, inter alia.

  • Development and outreach grounded in academic excellence

    In Colombia, the commission has contributed to English language teaching in the country through its scholarships for US citizens. In the last five years, more than a hundred Americans have visited Colombian institutions to develop specialized projects and support English language teaching.

     

    Recent years

  • Now

     

    Driving Change in Education

    The map of Fulbright’s impact in the country has been changing. This phenomenon has direct implications for the quality of our higher education institutions and the inter-institutional relationships that are generated with each visit by a student or professor from the United States. .

    The acquisition of new resources has also enabled the creation and consolidation of more scholarship programs aimed at vulnerable populations

  • 69 years of transforming realities

    In 2022, Fulbright Colombia celebrates its 65th anniversary, having witnessed nearly 5,000 people who have joined the institution with the ability to bring about change, to become a conduit for communication between cultures, to humanize their nations, and to engage in dialogue with one another.

     

    2022

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