Press Releases

Ambassador Pamela Pitzer Willeford and State Secretary Michael Ambühl signing the Memorandum of Understanding for the Fulbright Exchange program.

Fulbright Memorandum of Understanding Signed

Bern, Switzerland
May 3, 2006

The Government of the United States of America and the Government of Switzerland agreed to extend their support of the Fulbright Exchange Program.  U.S. Ambassador Pamela P. Willeford and Swiss State Secretary Michael Ambühl confirmed the agreement by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Fulbright Exchange Program today in the Federal Palace in Bern.

After the signing ceremony, Ambassador Pamela Pitzer Willeford remarked, “Expanding and deepening mutual understanding is an important goal of the United States and Switzerland.  We are pleased that the Swiss Government shares our enthusiasm for this prestigious program, and I am happy that State Secretary Ambühl and I could sign the Memorandum of Understanding for the Fulbright Exchange Program.” 

Ambassador Willeford thanked the Friends of Fulbright (including Pfizer, Novartis, UBS, Roche, Movado Watch Company and Nagra), which have supported the exchange program since 2000 with donations that have allowed the program to expand the number of student grants from the original eight to 20 per academic year.

The Fulbright Program was founded in 1946 by U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.  Since then, the program has offered 225,000 participants the opportunity to develop deeper ties with their host nations.  Today, more than 140 countries participate in the Fulbright Program, making it the premier exchange program in the world.  More than 4,500 Foreign Fulbright Grantees go to the U.S. each year and about 6,000 American students, teachers and professors go overseas.