ABOUT HARRIET M. FULBRIGHT

Harriet Mayor Fulbright has spent the majority of her adult life in the fields of education and the arts. From 1997 until 2000 she was the Executive Director of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, whose mission is to encourage partnerships between the public and private sectors in order to enhance cultural life in America.

Harriet Fulbright

Prior to this position she served as "Unofficial Ambassador" for the 50th anniversary of the Fulbright Program and in that capacity she traveled to numerous countries on all five major continents and all over the United States to speak about the importance of international education exchange and the pivotal role played by the Fulbright Program.

Mrs. Fulbright's teaching experience is extensive. While living in Korea she taught English composition and creative writing at Ewha Women's University, and in Moscow taught non-English speaking first graders to speak and read English. In the United States she taught art at several institutions, including the Maret School and American University.

Harriet Fulbright with President Bill Clinton

When the Congressional Arts Caucus was formed, Mrs. Fulbright was its first Assistant Director, and she was later appointed Executive Secretary of the International Congress of Art Historians at the National Gallery's Center for the Advanced Study in the Arts. In 1987 she became the Executive Director of the Fulbright Association, where she served for three years, moving it from Bryn Mawr to Washington and giving it more visibility and professionalism.

From 1990 to 1996 she was President of the Center for Arts in the Basic Curriculum, an organization which advocated education reform and conducted teacher training seminars.

Mrs. Fulbright has a BA from Radcliffe College and an MFA from the George Washington University. She has received numerous honorary degrees. Panama has presented her with its highest civilian award: El Orden de Manuel Amador Guerrero; and the Republic of Hungary gave her a similar honor: the Middle Cross of the Order of Merit.

Mrs. Fulbright shares her late husband's dedication to education and the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts throughout the world.