Two University of Portland professors have received prestigious Fulbright grants to teach overseas, according to the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. English professor John Orr will teach in China at a location to be determined, and sociology professor Nick McRee will lecture at Hitotsubashi University and Tsuda College in Japan. Orr and McRee will be two of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2015-2016. The program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, a division of the Institute of International Education.
Orr has taught at the University since 1993, serving as chair of the English department from 1998 to 2005. He was associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 2007 to 2008, and is now assistant provost in the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement. Orr will teach American Literature in his role as a Fulbright Scholar.
McRee joined the UP faculty in 1999. Before that he worked as a research analyst for the Oregon Department of Corrections. His teaching interests include criminology, juvenile delinquency, stratification, and political sociology. McRee will teach undergraduate and graduate-level courses in criminology and the American criminal justice system in his capacity as a Fulbright Scholar.
Since 1996, fifteen Faculty Fulbrights have been awarded to UP professors, including business professor Arjun Chatrath in 2005, English professor John McDonald, education professor Blaine Ackley, and business professors Richard Gritta and Mark Meckler in 2007, biology professor Katie O’Reilly in 2012, and English professors Lars Erik Larson and Molly Hiro in 2014. The Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries, and operates in over 155 countries worldwide. Since its establishment in 1946 by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given over 318,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, scientists and other professionals the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright or contact Elaine Clayton at 202-632-6445 or e-mail ECA-Press@state.gov.