Physicist named Fullbright Scholar
March 29, 2002
If all goes according to plan, physicist Charles Carrigan and his family
will be on a jet to England come July 1. And he won’t be on vacation.
Carrigan, who works in the Geosciences and Environmental Technologies
Division, has been selected as one of typically 11 recipients of the prestigious
Fulbright Scholar award to the United Kingdom. He has been invited by
the Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge University to pursue research
in the UK. He also has been selected as a visiting fellow of St. Edmund’s
College, which is one of the colleges comprising Cambridge University.
Only four U.S. faculty and professionals received awards to travel to
the UK in the "general category" of the Fulbright award this
year. Applicants like Carrigan, whose specialties do not fit into the
established categories of the Fulbright, apply in this category.
Carrigan, 52, chose Cambridge because of the institution’s reputation
as a leader in geophysics.
"Cambridge has expertise in fluid mechanics and earth sciences that
is world class," he said. "I stand to benefit significantly
by interacting with them and also hope to establish a long term technical
relationship that is beneficial to both the Lab and Cambridge."
So Carrigan, group leader of the subsurface flow and transport group in
the Energy & Environment Directorate, will take a year off from the
Lab for professional and teaching leave to work at Cambridge. He plans
on taking his wife and fourth grade son with him while he rents out his
home in Tracy.
"Our little boy will spend the fifth grade in an English school,"
Carrigan said. "We feel very fortunate to have this opportunity."
The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced
by former Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. After World War II, Fulbright
viewed the program as a vehicle for promoting mutual understanding between
the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the
world.
The Council for International Exchange of Scholars estimates that universities
garner the majority of awards. In 2000, for example, several prestigious
universities earned a number of the awards, with MIT garnering five, Purdue
earning five and UC Berkeley receiving two.
"For a researcher like Charles to receive this award is a huge personal
and professional accomplishment," said Robin Newmark, acting division
leader of the Geosciences and Environmental Technologies Division.
Fulbright grants are made to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries
for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing,
advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary
schools. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 4,500 new grants annually.
Since 1946, more than 250,000 participants, 94,000 from the United States
and 155,600 from other countries, have observed each other’s political,
economic and cultural institutions.
The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation
by the U.S. Congress. Foreign governments and private organizations contribute
through cost-sharing and indirect support, such as salary supplements,
tuition waivers, university housing, etc. The Congressional appropriation
for the Fulbright Program in fiscal year 2002 is $119 million. Foreign
governments contribute an additional $28 million directly to the Fulbright
Program.