One afternoon in late September, 1945 during a routine session of the U.S. Senate...

... then freshman Senator J. William Fulbright stated:

“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to introduce a bill for reference to the Committee on Military Affairs, authorizing the use of credits established abroad for the promotion of international good will through the exchange of students in fields of education, culture, and science.”

It was that speech on the Senate floor that established The Fulbright Act of 1946 (A Bill to amend the Surplus Property Act of 1944 to designate the Department of State as the disposal agency for surplus property outside the United States, its Territories and possessions, and for other purposes).

A brief history of the Fulbright program can be found here.

During my research efforts I learned of significant contributions by two University of Chicago faculty to the early years of the Fulbright Program.

First, Walter Johnson was chairman of the Department of History at the University of Chicago and served on the Board of Foreign Scholarships from 1947 to 1954 and as chairman of the Board of Foreign Scholarships from 1950 to 1953. Today, the Board of Foreign Scholarships is known as the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Second, John Hope Franklin served in the Department of History at the University of Chicago from 1964 to 1982 and as chairman of the Department from 1967 to 1970. He was appointed to the Board of Foreign Scholarships from 1962 to 1969 and served as chairman from 1966 to 1969.

What's great is that we have held past Fulbright interviews at the University of Chicago in the John Hope Franklin Room in the Social Sciences Building (which is a great interview room by the way) and now that I know of his contributions to the Fulbright Program I hope to schedule many more interviews in that room in the future. I will of course begin each interview with a brief history on John Hope Franklin and his connection to the Fulbright program.