Kevin Robert Deegan-Krause, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Wayne State University, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to do research at Comenius University in the Slovak Republic during the 2007-2008 academic year, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Deegan-Krause will be conducting the following research; Taking Sides and Making Sides: How Leaders Shape Political Conflict in New Democracies.

Deegan-Krause is one of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.

The Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright program has provided approximately 279,500 people - 105,400 Americans who have studied, taught or researched abroad and 174,000 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the United States – with the opportunity to observe each others’ political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas and to embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world’s inhabitants. The Program operates in over 150 countries worldwide.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

Among the thousands of prominent Fulbright alumni are: Muhammad Yunus, managing director and founder, Grameen Bank, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006; Javier Solana, Foreign Policy Chief, European Union; Ruth Simmons, president, Brown University; Craig Barrett, chairman of the board, Intel Corporation; Shamshad Akhtar, the first woman to hold the position of Governor, State Bank of Pakistan; Mohamed Benaissa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Morocco; Raoul Cantero, justice, Florida Supreme Court; Renee Fleming, soprano; Gish Jen, writer; Daniel Libeskind, architect; Aneesh Raman, CNN Middle East correspondent; and Robert Shaye, co-chairman and Co-CEO, New Line Cinema.

Fulbright recipients are among over 30,000 individuals participating in the U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year. For more than sixty years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has supported programs that seek to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.