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About J. William Fulbright
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J. W. Fulbright
1905-1995
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In 1945, J. William Fulbright
began a career in the Senate that was to last 30 years and to
influence the lives of people the world over. Before arriving
in Washington, Fulbright had already served as president of the
University of Arkansas, from 1939 to 1941. He was the youngest
college president in the nation. Fulbright spent all his school
years at the University until 1925, the year he left for Oxford
as a Rhodes Scholar.
Internationalism
A Senate career that was to be marked by an unwavering
dedication to global cooperation began during World War II, years
during which U.S. foreign policy was transformed. Americans began
moving from a cautious isolationism toward internationalism in
world affairs. Acting on his belief that an international peacekeeping
organization was crucial in formulating a humane foreign policy,
Fulbright sponsored a resolution committing the U.S. to a leadership
role in forming the United Nations.
Fulbright was a dominant intellectual force in Congress. He chaired
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee longer than any other Senator
in American history. He introduced legislation that led to the
founding of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and was
also the only senator to vote against funding the so-called "Un-American
Activities" investigations of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin.
An Exchange Program for People Across the
Globe
He also created the famed Fulbright
Scholarship Program, established in 1946 to promote international
understanding through the worldwide exchange of university students,
teachers, artists, and other professionals. Today 51 binational
commissions join the U.S. in underwriting a program that has awarded
more than 250,000 scholarships.
Noted Author and Statesman
He authored several notable books, including "The Arrogance
of Power," "The Crippled Giant," and "The
Price of Empire." In 1982, the University of Arkansas formally
dedicated the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences in recognition
of the contributions of J. William Fulbright toward international
understanding and education. To mark the 50th anniversary of the
Fulbright Exchange Program, the U.S. Postal Service issued a special
commemorative stamp during a ceremony held February 28, 1996,
in Fayetteville.
The Free and Inquiring Mind
The College is committed to Fulbright's belief that knowledge
promotes tolerance and understanding among peoples. The College
mission is taken from his writings:
...the highest function of higher education
is the teaching of things in perspective, toward the purposes
of enriching the life of the individual, cultivating the free
and inquiring mind, and advancing the effort to bring reason,
justice, and humanity into the relations of men and nations.
A Rich Legacy
On October 24, 1999, the University of Arkansas dedicated the
Fulbright Peace Fountain in his honor. The fountain, designed
by Fay Jones, is dedicated to the possibility of peace through
education. The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton joined former
and current Fulbright Scholars on October 21, 2002, to dedicate
the Fulbright sculpture, which faces the Peace Fountain.
President Clinton said that Fulbright believed
"The best thing America could do was to be an intelligent
example of the world through material helpfulness without moral
presumption. He said that we should make our own society an example
of human happiness, make ourselves the friend of social revolution,
and go beyond simple reciprocity in the effort to reconcile hostile
worlds. He would far prefer to see us be a sympathetic friend
of humanity, rather than its stern and prideful schoolmaster."
(Fulbright photograph courtesy of Special Collections,
Mullins Library, University of Arkansas)
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