About Us
The mission of the Fulbright Association is to advocate for the Fulbright Program and promote international education. Our vision is a world where international exchange and study is widely recognized as a force for peace.
Community Colleges Chapter of the Fulbright Association
The Community Colleges Chapter of the Fulbright Association is a nationwide virtual chapter serving Fulbright alumni and friends of international exchange who are interested in supporting community college initiatives and advancement.
Leadership
PRESIDENT
David J. Smith
davidjsmith@davidjsmithconsulting.com
David was a Fulbright U.S. Scholar at the University of Tartu in Tartu, Estonia (2003-2004) while teaching at Harford Community College in Bel Air, MD where he was a tenured associate professor of legal studies. He has been active in the Fulbright Association for over 20 years serving as a consultant to the Fulbright Association, president of the National Capital Area Chapter, and now as president of the Community Colleges Chapter.
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He has published three books including Peace Jobs: A Students Guide to Starting a Career Working for Peace (IAP 2016) and Peacebuilding in Community Colleges: A Teaching Resource (USIP Press 2013). He has published in the Community College Daily, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times, and The Baltimore Sun. He has been featured in the Washington Post Magazine.
He is the president of the Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education and served as a senior program officer and manager at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He is a TEDx speaker and has been interviewed on The Today Show. David currently teaches at the Jimmy and Rosalynn School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, and has taught at the School of International Service at American University, Goucher College, Drexel University, Towson University, Georgetown University, and Harford Community College. He has a BA in political science from American University, an MS in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University, a Grad Cert in positive psychology from the University of Missouri, and a JD from the University of Baltimore.
Vice President
Toni Holland
Toni Holland, a Fulbright U.S. Student in 2009-2010, is director of the Honors College at Houston Community College Southeast Campus and serves as the vice president of the recently formed Fulbright Association Community Colleges Chapter. Dr. Holland’s work has been published in Rip Rap, Poetry International (Cinepoetry issue), New Letters, Superpresent, Solstice Literary Magazine, Potomac Review, and is forthcoming in Blue Unicorn. Dr. Holland has served as president of the Fulbright Alumni Association Southeast/Houston Chapter.
Secretary
Laurie Wolfe
Laurie Wolfe was a Fulbright US Scholar with the Ministry of Public Education in Uzbekistan (2018-2019). Dr. Wolfe is a Psychology Professor who studies the impact of positive psychology and stress reduction techniques on teaching and learning. She teaches classes in stress management, positive psychology, yoga, and meditation. For her Fulbright project she worked with the Uzbek Ministry of Public Education to create a bullying prevention program for public schools across the country.
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Dr. Wolfe received her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Minnesota State University Moorhead where her research focused on the impact of mindfulness training on perceived stress and academic performance among English language students in Uzbekistan. She received a MS degree in School Psychology at Syracuse University, in New York and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Theology from the College of St. Benedict, a private women’s liberal arts college in Minnesota.
In addition to teaching and conducting research, Dr. Wolfe has presented workshops both online and in-person in the US and overseas on topics such as active learning, engaging students online, mindfulness, overcoming thinking errors, and reducing stress in the classroom. Dr. Wolfe lives in Minnesota with her family and their rescued black lab named Joe. She loves to travel and has spent significant time in Central Asia.
Treasurer
Stephanie Hallock
Stephanie Hallock is a Professor of Political Science at Harford Community College in Bel Air, MD. She earned her Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Miami, FL and her MA in Political Science from Virginia Tech. In 25 years of higher education, Stephanie has served in a variety of faculty and administrative capacities, on numerous community engagement projects and on awards selection boards for the American Political Science Association. She was on the leadership team of the League of Women Voters – Harford County MD chapter for many years, and is proud to serve as a Higher Education Ambassador for the Council on Foreign Relations. Her most current projects include serving as a Fulbright Specialist and as a founding member of the newly created Fulbright Association Community College Chapter.
Board Members
Vincent L. Briley
Vincent Briley has participated in a variety of Fulbright award programs including the Fulbright U.S. – Germany International Education Administrators Program (2012), Fulbright Germany “On the Road” (2019), and Fulbright in the Classroom (2021). He is an alumnus of the American Association of Community Colleges John E. Roueche Future Leaders Institute and serves as a lecturer at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD.
Reza Jafari
Reza Jafari is the Chairman and CEO and Founder of e-Development International. Mr. Jafari was appointed by the Governor of Maryland and currently serves as the Chair of the Trustees Board of Chesapeake College. He was also appointed by Governor Moore and currently serves on the Maryland Economic Council. He also serves on the Board of Maryland Association of Community Colleges; the State Coordinator of Association of Community College Trustees; the Co-Chairman of Connected Community Forum and Board Advisor of Wireless Broadband Alliance; and a Board member of the India, China, and America Institute. A successful entrepreneur who has created several innovative companies focusing on digital learning and workforce development and exited to large corporations.
Cheryl J. Fish
Cheryl Fish was a Fulbright U.S. Scholar in Finland. She is professor of English at Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, and has been on the Friends of Fulbright Finland board. She meets regularly with Finnish Fulbright grantees in NYC. Her debut novel Off the Yoga Mat, was published by Livingston Press/UWA. She is the author of The Sauna is Full of Maids, and Crater & Tower, poems, and co-edited A Stranger in the Village: Two Centuries of African-American Travel Writing, and a creative writing editor at Ecocene: Cappadocia Journal of Environmental Humanities.
Selina LeMay-Klippel
Selina LeMay-Klipple is the Workforce Development Coordinator of Health and Human Service at North Country Community College. During her 17 years at NCCC, Selina has been a Career and Technical Education Coordinator serving the rural communities of Essex and Franklin County in New York State, Science Department Chair, Professor of Nursing, and Campus Coordinator. In 2018, as a Professor of Nursing, Dr. LeMay-Klippel served as a Fulbright Scholar to Bashkir State Medical University in Ufa, Russia where she focused on innovative teaching techniques in nursing classrooms. In 2020, Selina was accepted as a Fulbright Specialist and a roundtable presenter at the 2023 Fulbright Annual Conference.
Sandra Jowers-Barber
Sandra Jowers-Barber is the Director of the Division of Humanities and Criminology at the University of the District of Columbia Community College. Sandra is a member of the advisory board of the Center for Black Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, a life member of the Association of Black Women Historians, a member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
Tabitha A. Morgan
Tabitha A. Morgan holds a PhD in American Studies from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Currently, they are an Assistant Professor in Community College of Philadelphia’s History, Gender, and English departments. Most recently, Dr. Morgan received the US Studies Chair in History as the García-Robles Fulbright awardee at the University of Veracruz, Xalapa, 2021-2022. Their research centers in working class women’s art and aesthetics, indigeneity and ecopoetics, the history of the Americas, and anti-racist radical feminism.