Prof. Paul Donnelly presented 2025-26 Irish Fulbright Awards
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As Chair of the Ireland-United Stats Commission for Educational Exchange (Fulbright Commission Ireland), Professor Paul Donnelly (School of Marketing and Entrepreneurship) presented the 18 recipients of the 2025-26 Irish Fulbright Awardees with their awards at a ceremony in the US Embassy, Ballsbridge, on 25 July, 2025.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Edward S. Walsh, said:
“The Fulbright Programme plays a crucial role in strengthening ties between the United States and Ireland. Through educational and cultural exchanges, Fulbright awardees work toward fostering mutual understanding and finding solutions to global issues, ensuring that our extraordinary transatlantic relationship continues to flourish. I congratulate this year’s awardees on their success.”
2025-26 Fulbright Irish Awardees pictured with (front row centre, l to r) Dr. Dara FitzGerald, Fulbright Commission Ireland Executive Director; Edward S. Walsh, U.S. Ambassador to Ireland; Julie Connell, U.S. and Canada Unit Director, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Professor Paul Donnelly, Fulbright Commission Ireland Board Chair.
Chair of the Fulbright Commission Ireland Board, Professor Paul Donnelly, said:
On behalf of the Fulbright Commission Ireland Board, I am delighted to congratulate the 18 Fulbright Irish Awardees on their success. At a time of global change and uncertainty, the mission, values and legacy of the Fulbright Program of leadership, empathy, understanding, and collaboration endure, embodied by a new cohort of excellent Fulbright awardees embarking on academic and cultural exchanges in the United States. We take pride in their achievement and wish the awardees a rich and rewarding experience.”
In his message to the new awardees, Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Minister for Defence, Simon Harris T.D., said:
“I warmly congratulate the Fulbright Irish Awardees for 2025-2026. The Fulbright Programme – spanning 14 presidential administrations – has been an important initiative in sustaining the unique and special relationship that Ireland and the United States share. At the dawn of the age of artificial intelligence, there is still no substitution for the personal engagement, which sustains our deep and rich people-to-people connections. As such, Fulbright Awardees serve as cultural ambassadors for Ireland in the United States, sharing their knowledge, expertise and learnings upon return. I am proud that my government has supported Fulbright to maintain and strengthen ties between the U.S. and Ireland and build on our transatlantic academic and cultural connections. I want to wish the Fulbright Irish Awardees 2025-2026 every success as they embark on this exciting journey.”
From August 2025 to August 2026, Fulbright Irish Scholars, Students and Professionals will attend institutions ranging from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Kansas to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Maxine Greene Institute, and the University of Colorado Boulder. Awardees will research, innovate and collaborate across a diverse range of fields including multimedia arts, philosophy, medicine, agriculture, education, art history, AI technology in medicine, AI technology in education, visual arts, and health. Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) will teach the Irish language and support Irish language Immersion weekends at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, College of Our Lady of the Elms, University of Montana, and the University of Notre Dame.
l to r) Eileen Bell, Fulbright Commission Ireland Board Member; Professor Paul Donnelly, Fulbright Commission Ireland Board Chair; Ingrid Specht, Fulbright Commission Ireland Board Member; Edward S. Walsh, U.S. Ambassador to Ireland; Dr. Dara FitzGerald, Fulbright Commission Ireland Executive Director; Thea Gilien, Fulbright Commission Ireland Board Member.
The Fulbright bilateral exchange programme has facilitated academic and cultural exchanges and strengthened Ireland-U.S. relations since 1957. The programme has a reputation for selecting exceptional candidates from across Ireland to study and work in disciplines ranging from health, science, technology and business to culture, the arts and the Irish language. Academics, professionals, students and scholars research, study, teach and collaborate with experts at leading U.S. institutions.
More than 400,000 Fulbrighters from over 155 countries have participated in the Fulbright Program since it began in 1946. Becoming a Fulbrighter means entering into a community of accomplished individuals. Fulbright alumni include 44 current or former heads of state, 62 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize-winners, and 82 MacArthur Foundation Fellows.
The call for the 2026-27 Fulbright Irish Awards launched on 28th August, 2025. Interested candidates should visit www.fulbright.ie for more information. The deadline to apply is 4pm, 23rd October, 2025.