Wayne State University announces two winners of the 2004-2005 Fulbright Grants through the Fulbright Scholar Program. They are Snehamay Khasnabis, professor and interim associate dean of research, College of Engineering and Laura Ann Reese, professor, department of geography and urban planning, in the College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs (CULMA).

Khasnabis and Reese are among 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 140 countries in 2004-2005. Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright program's purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.

Khasnabis' grant is for study at the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai in Mumbai, India. His research reviews policy decisions related to large-scale investments in transportation infrastrucure in India.

Khasnabis, who has authored and investigated several journal articles and projects, has been a professor at Wayne State since 1975. He earned a bachelor's in civil engineering from the University of Calcutta in India. He also earned a master's and doctorate from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. also in civil engineering.

Reese's grant provides for lecturing and research on Comparative Civic Culture at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. Her major research interests are urban politics, public administration and policy analysis.

Reese, an author and co-author of several books and articles, earned a bachelor's in political science from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and master's and Ph.D. in Public Administration and Political Science, respectively, from Wayne State University.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Over its 58 years of existence, thousands of U.S. faculty and professionals have studied, taught or conducted research abroad, and thousands of their counterparts from other countries have engaged in similar activities in the United States. Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 12 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.

Contact: Tom Reynolds Email:treynolds@dmac.wayne.edu