College Green (SUNY Geneseo photo/Keith Walters '11)
For the seventh time in the past eight years, SUNY Geneseo has been named a Top Producer of Fulbright US Student awards, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced in its annual article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Four Geneseo alumni were offered Fulbright US Student awards for 2024–25, placing the College tied for third among the more than 740 Carnegie Classification master’s degree institutions. Geneseo was once again the only SUNY school to be named to the list. The College finished in the top three nationally in that classification in 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, and 2023–24.
The winners for 2024–25 were Andrew Biittig ’23 (Germany), Elle Maier ’24 (Colombia), Torianna Robleto ’24 (Honduras), and Lily Shields ’23 (Uganda). The prestigious program provides grants for individually designed study or research programs, or English teaching assistant programs, in many foreign countries.
For the 2017–18 Fulbright cycle, Geneseo was the first dedicated SUNY institution to be named a Top Producer of US Student awards in any category—bachelor’s, master’s, research, or special-focus four-year institutions. This is the twelfth year that the US Department of State has issued an annual list of Top Producer institutions in the Chronicle.
“Geneseo once again being recognized as one of the nation’s Top Producers of Fulbright US Student awards is yet another indicator of the quality of the public honors college education we offer,” says Geneseo President Denise A. Battles. “Our community is proud of its reputation as a Fulbright institution in both the US Student and Scholars programs, reflecting both the excellence of our students and alumni as well as the talented and distinguished faculty that mentor and teach them.”
The college’s historical total of awards offered is now 52, with 40 coming in the past seven years and 48 since 2010. Award winners for the 2025–26 Fulbright US Student program competition will be announced beginning in March.
“World citizenship is something our students, faculty, and alumni take seriously, so our success with Fulbright is an outgrowth of both that value and a sense of responsibility,” says Mary C. Toale, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Our mission statement affirms an ‘ethical commitment to the common good of our local and global communities,’ so sending our best and brightest to countries all over the earth to study, do research, and teach through the Fulbright program is just part of what we do here and who we are.”
Fulbright US Student Program
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright US Student Program has provided more than 400,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. US students, artists, and young professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright grants to study, teach English, and conduct research abroad each year. The US Student Program operates in more than 140 countries throughout the world.
The Fulbright US Student Program was created by the US Department of State, funded by an annual appropriation from the US Congress to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education. The Fulbright program also awards grants to US scholars, teachers, and faculty to conduct research and teach overseas. In addition, some 4,000 foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, lecture, conduct research, and teach foreign languages.
The Fulbright US Student competition is open to students and alumni. It is administered at Geneseo by Director of National Fellowships and Scholarships Michael Mills, who can be reached at millsm@geneseo.edu. For more information about the Fulbright and other nationally and internationally competitive scholarship and fellowship programs, visit Fellowships and Scholarships.