The 60^th anniversary celebration of Foundation Day saw an amalgam of Fulbrighters, Fulbright alumni and friends of the Fulbright program. The Foundation was privileged to have S.M. Krishna, India's Minister of External Affairs and a Fulbright alumnus, as Chief Guest for the occasion.

Inaugurating the event through the ceremonial lamp lighting: (L to R) Judith McHale, US Under Secretary of Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy; Timothy Roemer, US Ambassador to India; and S.M. Krishna, India's Minister of External Affairs. More Photos... ..

USIEF was founded on February 2, 1950. Since then, its directors have been among the smartest and most capable of leaders. USIEF executive directors have led the organization with zeal, worked with passion, developed strategies with vision and forged lasting and firm relations with eminent educators, professionals, students, diplomats and the general public. More... ..

Satish Alekar recently retired as head of the Center for Performing Arts, University of Pune. He was adjunct professor of performance studies in the Tisch School of Arts, New York University, as a Fulbright scholar. He has been practicing theatre in Maharashtra since 1971 and is one of the founding members of India's best-known theatre group, the Theatre Academy, which he administered from 1973 to 1992.

In the spring of 2003, I was attached with the Performance Studies Department of the Tisch School at New York University (NYU) as a Fulbright scholar, teaching famous Indian plays like Ghashiram Kotwal, Wada Chirebandi, Hayavadan, Mahanirvan, Begum Barve and many others. It was a rewarding experience to see how a private institution like the NYU functions, how it organizes finance and how the corporate philanthropy functions in the liberal economy. Thinking of the Indian model of higher education, we could benefit by merging the US financial ethos in our education system, including those of the classical and fine arts.

My teaching also gave me an excuse to be in New York, the hub of vibrating theatre. I was under the care of theatre guru Richard Schechner; hence, my schedule included conducting just one class per week and then involving myself in active theatre. It was perhaps the coldest winter in New York in many years. On two occasions the city came to a standstill because of the heavy snow. It was fun to attend rehearsals of the experimental play, Yokastas, in such weather. The play was being directed by Richard Schechner for his own theatre group – the East Coast Artists. More... ..

Indrapramit Roy was the 2004-05 Fulbright Arts Fellow at the University of Arts in Philadelphia, PA and Bennington College in Bennington, VT. At present he is a professor in the Department of Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda in Vadodara. At left, he works in his studio at Bennington College during his Fulbright grant.

For my Fulbright, I had elaborate plans to stay as artist-in-residence at two very different institutions in the US: one a liberal arts college at Bennington in Vermont and the other a professional art college at the University of Arts in Philadelphia. In between, I planned a month-long stay in the most global of all cities -- New York. Apart from the residencies I taught a course in illustration, exhibited works I made during my stay and gave two illustrated talks, not to speak of the elaborate museum and gallery visits and travel plans that I had made. What a handful! The Fulbright Foundation staff, after some initial hesitation, accepted my rather unusual plan and I remain thankful to them till date.

The day I arrived at the Newark Liberty International Airport was a perfect fall day of October 7, 2004. My welcome to the United States of America could not have been better. I moved to my first place of affiliation, Bennington, after a brief orientation in New York for a couple of days. More... ..