Fulbright Specialist Program Archives

Torrey Lawson

Mr. Torrey Lawson is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and educator with over 20 years of experience across national and international media. He has worked as a producer at NBC News and ABC News, and reported internationally for CGTN Digital and BBC Worldwide. He has also served as the Joan Konner Visiting Professor of Journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and as the inaugural Stokes Visiting Professor of Journalism at Loyola University New Orleans, where he developed courses on digital storytelling, investigative reporting, film, and media studies, as also a high-enrollment course on sports, media, and politics. Besides, Mr. Lawson has taught investigative reporting at UC Berkeley. He is currently a Fulbright Specialist and Visiting Fellow at Fundação Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro, where his research examines how digital platforms are used for recruitment and exploitation across borders; it has a particular focus on human trafficking networks, platform accountability, and the global implications of AI-driven media systems.

As a Fulbright Specialist in India, Mr. Lawson will work with students and faculty at M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women in Chennai, leading workshops and lectures on investigative journalism, digital verification, and global storytelling in the evolving media landscape.

Arunava Gupta

Dr. Arunava Gupta is a distinguished university professor emeritus at the University of Alabama and an adjunct professor in the Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the University of California San Diego. He earned his MSc in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and his PhD in chemical physics from Stanford University. Before joining the University of Alabama as faculty in 2004, Dr. Gupta served as a research staff member and manager at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York, where he led projects on thin-film and device technologies.

His research focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of advanced thin-film and nanomaterials for IT and energy applications. Dr. Gupta has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed articles, holds 30 U.S. patents, and is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Physical Society (APS), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 2010, he received the Humboldt Research Award for his sustained contributions to the study of magnetism and superconductivity in oxide-based materials.

Joseph Wronka

Dr. Joseph Wronka is professor emeritus, Springfield College, Massachusetts. He has also had extensive post-secondary teaching experience in the United States, including in Alaska, Georgia, and New York City, and briefly in Europe at Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. He has represented the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) for roughly two decades and was on the executive committee at the United Nations for an NGO working for Indigenous Peoples. Having been to India previously – Bhubaneswar, Delhi, and Karnataka – he was also a Fulbrighter in Pakistan, Austria, and Greece. Dr. Wronka was one of the 300 human rights/social justice activists who attended the 50th anniversary of the UN endorsement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He has presented his work in roughly 20 countries. He is the author of numerous scholarly and popular articles, as well as books, with his latest book being Human Rights and Social Justice: Social Action and Service for the Helping and Health Professions. Having studied the phenomenon of performing and street musicians at the University of Nice, he completed his doctorate in social policy from Brandeis University; his master’s in existential-phenomenological psychology from Duquesne University; and his bachelor’s from Brooklyn College.

Paul Koster

Paul Koster is a professor of practice at Emory University School of Law where he teaches legal writing, legal advocacy, legal profession, and introduction to the U.S. legal system. He is also the faculty advisor to the Emory Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Program and co-faculty advisor to the Emory Moot Court Society. He was awarded the Minister Gloria Jean Fowler Angel Award by the Emory Law Class of 2024, Professor of the Year title by the Emory Black Law Students Association in 2023, and the Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Education in 2021.

Prof. Koster practiced law for nearly 20 years, including 10 years as managing partner of a boutique Atlanta law firm which he cofounded. While in practice, he was named a Georgia Super Lawyer on multiple occasions. Following his law school education, he served as a staff attorney for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC) Circuit and as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Stephanie Duncan-Peters of the DC Superior Court. Prof. Koster is the 2024–2026 chair of the Pro Bono Committee for the Legal Writing Institute, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

Jyoti Bachani

Dr. Jyoti Bachani is a full professor of strategy and innovation at Saint Mary’s College of California. She is also the founder of the collective, Poetry of Diaspora in Silicon Valley, and co-founder of the India and U.S. chapters of the International Humanistic Management Association. Her research, published in several articles and books, professes that organizing and pedagogy can be humanized using the arts. She has also led several experiential workshops and Women’s Wisdom Circles. Other than her work being adjudged the best research based-article from the management consulting division of the Academy of Management (AOM), Dr. Bachani is the recipient of several awards: Outstanding Lasallian Educator; Greater Good Award; Fulbright Senior Research Scholar (2011–12); and Fulbright Specialist (2025–28).

Dr. Bachani has also served as the founding editor-in-chief of Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, the largest online collection of business cases. Further, she guest-edited the poetry special issue of the journal, Organizational Aesthetics. Besides, she has served on the boards of the Western Academy of Management and AOM’s management, spirituality and religion division. She is also is an associate editor with the Journal of Management Inquiry. She earned her PhD from London Business School, UK; her master’s in management science and engineering from Stanford University, U.S.; and her MBA and BS in physics from Delhi University, India.

Dibyendu Sarkar

Dibyendu Sarkar is a professor of environmental engineering and the founding director of Stevens Center for Sustainability at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He is a broadly trained environmental geochemist with research interests in soil and water chemistry, environmental remediation, risk assessment, and green technology development. Dr. Sarkar graduated with a PhD in geochemistry from the University of Tennessee in 1997. He is also a professional geologist licensed in Texas. Thus far, he has advised over 35 PhD and MS/ME students, over 25 postdoctoral associates, and many visiting scholars. He has published over 200 journal articles, 20 book chapters, and over 300 technical abstracts and conference proceedings; he has also edited three books and authored one research monograph. So far, he has generated more than USD 18 million in grant funding as a principal investigator/ co-principal investigator to support the research activities of his group. Dr. Sarkar is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and a fellow of the Soil Science Society of America. He is also the founding principal of SIROM Scientific Solutions, LLC, an environmental R & D start-up incorporated in New Jersey. Besides, he is the editor-in-chief of Springer’s Current Pollution Reports and serves in the editorial board of several other journals.

Stephen Farnsworth

Dr. Stephen Farnsworth is professor of political science and international affairs and the director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington. He is the author or co-author of nine books and dozens of research articles on the presidency, the mass media, public opinion, and journalism. His most recent books include: Late-Night in Washington: Political Humor and the American Presidency; Producing News in a Time of Disinformation: Information Evaluation Strategies for Journalists and News Consumers; Presidential Communication and Character: White House News Management from Clinton and Cable to Twitter and Trump; and The Global President: International Media and the U.S. Government.

Dr. Farnsworth, who holds a PhD in government from Georgetown University, has also served as a Poland–U.S. Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw, as a Canada–U.S. Fulbright Research Chair in Public Policy at McGill University in Montreal, and as a Malaysia–U.S. Fulbright Specialist at Methodist College in Kuala Lumpur. He has received several teaching awards, including the Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Krishna Reddy

Dr. Krishna Reddy is a university scholar, distinguished researcher, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and director of the Sustainable Engineering Research Laboratory and the Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering Laboratory at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). With over 30 years of research and professional experience, Dr. Reddy has made pioneering contributions to geoenvironmental engineering and sustainable and resilient engineering. His expertise spans environmental remediation, waste containment and landfill engineering, beneficial use of waste and recycled materials, integration of AI/ML/DL into geoenvironmental systems, and development of sustainability and resiliency assessment frameworks. A globally recognized scholar, Dr. Reddy has co-authored four influential books (including Geoenvironmental Engineering: Site Remediation, Waste Containment, and Emerging Waste Management Technologies and Sustainable Engineering: Drivers, Metrics, Tools, and Applications), written a number of book chapters and conference papers, and more than 340 journal papers, as well as contributed to numerous edited volumes. His outstanding contributions have been recognized through numerous prestigious honors, including the ASCE Wesley W. Horner Award and the ASTM Hogentogler Award. He is the Vice President of North America for the International Society of Environmental Geotechnology (ISEG).

Michael Caves

Judge Michael Caves has been serving on the Superior Court of California since January 2023. Before entering the judiciary, he had spent more than 15 years as a trial attorney and criminal prosecutor. J. Caves has authored nine books, including Everyday Dispute Resolution, the second edition of which was released in 2026. He is also a contributing author for the University of California’s Continuing Education of the Bar and has reviewed or edited numerous academic and professional publications. His core research is focused on judicial ethics and conflict resolution. He has also taught and designed graduate courses in law, ethics, and conflict resolution for over 17 years.

He has a PhD in rhetoric and communication, a JD (Doctor of Jurisprudence), an LLM, an MPA, an MA in negotiation, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding, and a BA in communication. J. Caves is a member of a number of academic honor groups, including the Golden Key International Honour Society, Pi Gamma Mu, Phi Theta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Delta Phi, and Omicron Delta Kappa. He is also a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Gabriel Gomez

Dr. Gabriel Gomez earned his PhD in radio, television, and film from Northwestern University, Illinois, in 1996. From 1998, he has been a faculty member at Chicago State University, an institution committed to social justice, where he is currently a full professor in the Department of Computing, Information and Mathematical Sciences, and Technology. His numerous publications and presentations reflect research interests that span library science, technology in education, community service, and big data. He has received numerous awards and grants, including two previous Fulbright scholarships for India, which bracket more than a decade of interaction in that country through teaching, publishing, and numerous conferences. Throughout this time, he has also remained politically active with a number of groups dedicated to activism and nonviolence. He is a representative for Local 4100 of the University Professionals of Illinois (UPI), a union of the American Federation of Teachers. Other community efforts involve service as co-executive director of the Legacy Project Education Initiative and as a board member of its parent organization, the Legacy Project. In 2020, he was part of two Faculty Resource Network Scholar-in-Residence programs at New York University. He is scheduled to retire in August 2026 as a professor emeritus.