President Obama to Appoint Pitzer President Laura Skandera Trombley to Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

Claremont, Calif. (December 20, 2012) — The White House announced today that Pitzer College President Laura Skandera Trombley will be appointed by US President Barack Obama to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

The Office of the Press Secretary also announced two additional key administration post appointments by President Obama: Ruth David and Maria T. Zuber to the National Science Foundation Board.

“I am confident that these outstanding individuals will greatly serve the American people in their new roles and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” said President Obama.

Laura Skandera Trombley has served as the president of Pitzer College since 2002. She is a professor of American literature and a distinguished Mark Twain scholar. She has authored five books, most recently Mark Twain’s Other Woman (Knopf, 2011). Previously, she served as dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Coe College, and assistant provost at SUNY Potsdam where she also received early tenure. She was a Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin in American studies at the Universitaet Eichstaett in Germany from 1985 to 1988. Trombley received a BA and an MA summa cum laude from Pepperdine University and a PhD from the University of Southern California where she was named the Lester and Irene Finkelstein Fellow for Outstanding Humanities Student. Trombley is currently a member of the Council of Presidents of the Association of Governing Boards.

The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board was established by the US Congress to supervise the Fulbright Program and establish worldwide policies. The board members, who come from academic, business, cultural and public life, also select the students, scholars, teachers and others to participate in the educational exchange programs. Appointed by the President of the United States, the 12-member board meets quarterly.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the US government’s flagship international exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 318,000 participants from over 150 countries with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

In 2010, 2011 and 2012, The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked Pitzer College as the top producer of Fulbright students among all US liberal arts colleges in the “bachelor’s institution” category. Pitzer has been the national leader in Fulbright Fellowships per thousand students for nine consecutive years.

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About Pitzer College

Pitzer College is a nationally top-ranked undergraduate liberal arts and sciences institution. A member of The Claremont Colleges, Pitzer offers a distinctive approach to a liberal arts education by linking intellectual inquiry with interdisciplinary studies, cultural immersion, social responsibility, and community involvement. For more information, please visit www.pitzer.edu.

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