Kartik Sundar, doctoral student in transportation and logistics, has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarship to India, the Department of State and J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced recently.

Sundar is one of more than 1,500 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2010-11 academic year through the program. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program has given approximately 300,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, education and athletics. Forty Fulbright alumni from 11 countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize, and 75 alumni have received Pulitzer Prizes.

The campus deadline for the 2011-12 Fulbright Student program is Sept. 20. For more information, contact Kerri Spiering, Fulbright campus representative, at 1-8166.