Sinclair Community College Welcomes Visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence

Sinclair Community College has been selected to host a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence from Ethiopia during the 2023-2024 academic year.  Dr. Abebayehu Desalegn, an expert in biological sciences at Wolaita Sodo University in Ethiopia, was selected for the Fulbright award by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.  

The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program brings visiting scholars from abroad to U.S. colleges and universities, helping the institutions internationalize their curricula, campuses and surrounding communities, and diversify the educational experiences of their students, faculty, staff, and stakeholders.  Dr. Desalegn is one of more than 45 Fulbright Scholars-in-Residence, and among 1,000 outstanding foreign faculty and professionals who will teach and pursue research in the United States for the 2023-2024 academic year through the worldwide Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program. 

Dr. Desalegn is part of the Sinclair Community College Biology/Biotechnology Department where he is teaching Human Biology and General Biology. 

Dr. Desalegn earned a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Systemics Zoology both from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Wolayita Soddo University, Wolayita Sodo, Southern Region Ethiopia.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. It is funded through an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).  Participating governments and home and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.

Since its inception in 1946, over 400,000 people from all backgrounds — students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals — have participated in the Fulbright Program and returned home with an expanded worldview, a deep appreciation for their host country and its people, and a new network of colleagues and friends. 

Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs, and university presidents, as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists, and teachers.  They include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

ECA sponsors the Fulbright Program, and several non-profit, cooperative partners implement and support the program on the Bureau’s behalf.  For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit https://fulbrightprogram.org or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Press Office by e-mail: ECA-Press@state.gov.

###