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Our story

The global Fulbright Program was created in 1946 in response to an exceptional political situation – the end of a brutal world war and the urgent need for greater international understanding. A 1948 treaty between the US and the UK governments specifically established the US-UK Fulbright Commission, one of the first Fulbright programmes in the world.

In the beginning, Fulbright Scholars crossed the Atlantic by boat, sailing into New York, Liverpool and Southampton. Today, our Fulbright community comprises teachers, artists, scientists, and mathematicians; actors and doctors; MBAs, MFAs, PhDs and MPAs.   

Over the years, thousands of American and British students and scholars have benefitted from the opportunity to study in each other’s countries, and the experience has impacted their lives and their work long after returning home. Today we are the only exchange programme offering scholarships for students and scholars both ways across the Atlantic between the US and the UK, and our awards span every discipline. 

Celebrating 75 years of impact

It was on September 22, 1948 that the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom signed a treaty to create the US-UK Fulbright Commission, one of the first bilateral programmes of its kind. 

Seventy-five may be a venerable age but there is no diminishing the urgency of our work. The Fulbright mission of advancing knowledge and building empathy and civic engagement through education exchange remains as important as ever. 

Over the course of 2023, we celebrated the transformational stories of individual Fulbrighters and the impact our 25,000-strong alumni community has made on the world, whether as pioneering researchers and entrepreneurs or poets and politicians. Of equal importance, we are also looking ahead to our next decades and our strategic priorities of widening participation in Fulbright programming and supporting our Fulbright community to tackle global challenges.     

The global Fulbright Programme was created in 1946 in the aftermath of World War II through legislation introduced by Senator J. William Fulbright  of Arkansas, who himself had had a formative experience studying at Pembroke College, Oxford University in the 1920s. A 1948 treaty between the US and the UK governments specifically established the US-UK Fulbright Commission, one of the first Fulbright programmes in the world.

The Fulbright Programme’s enduring stature and success is based on its sustained commitment to international bilateral partnership and joint priority-setting between the United States and over 160 countries in which it operates. The original Fulbright Act authorised the US Secretary of State to enter into executive agreements with foreign governments to manage the funds derived from the sale of surplus World War II property through foundations. These foundations became the 49 Binational Fulbright Commissions which still function today, of which the US-UK Commission is one, setting priorities for the Fulbright Programme in cooperation with the US Department of State and respective host governments. They are governed by boards composed of citizens of the United States and partner nations.

Reflecting on the programme, Fulbright remarked:

"The simple, basic purpose of the exchange program we initiated over forty years ago is to erode the culturally rooted mistrust that sets nations against one another. Its essential aim is to encourage people in all countries, and especially their political leaders, to stop denying others the right to their own view of reality and to develop a new manner of thinking about how to avoid war rather than to wage it. The exchange program is not a panacea but an avenue of hope – possibly our best hope and conceivably our only hope – for the survival and future progress of humanity."

The US-UK Commission is committed to reflecting both the UK and US governments priorities through its programming and to achieving excellence in education through identifying potential in our merit-based selection processes. It embraces a culture of respect, engagement and belonging.