I had the pleasure of joining newly-minted Minister of Education and Culture, Illugi Gunnarsson, in bidding farewell to the latest crop of Fulbright grantees going to the U.S. to attend school, teach, and conduct research. The group was very impressive and it included artists, scholars, and students: Dr. Þorgerður Einarsdóttir will conduct Gender Studies research at Rutgers University; Margrét Björnsdóttir will be the Scholar-in-Residence at Green River Community College; Ásdís Ólafsdóttir will earn a Master’s in International Relations at New York University; Egill Bjarnason will earn a Masters in Social Documentation at the University of California, Santa Cruz;
Friðrik Ársælsson received the Boas scholarship to attend Harvard Law School; Friðrik Árni Friðriksson Hirst will attend Harvard Law School; Guðmundur Kári Stefánsson, will earn a PhD in Astrophysics at Penn State University; Hólmfríður Arnalds will earn a Masters in Psychology at the University of North Texas; Klara Thórhallsdóttir will earn a Masters in Museum Studies at the California College of Fine Arts; and, Rut Thorsteinsdóttir, will attend the Summer Institute on Environmental Stewardship at Kansas State University. It is quite overwhelming to think about the enormous benefits that this program will bring to the United States and Iceland.
