A Romanian team made up of Rodica Mihaila, Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission, and Ruxandra Rădulescu, the Fulbright-EducationUSA adviser, participated in the NAFSA annual conference, held in Denver, Colorado, from May 29 to June 4, 2016. Bringing together international education administrators and representatives from all over the world, the 2016 edition of the NAFSA Annual Conference and Expo, titled “Building Capacity for Global Learning”, attracted more than 9,000 participants working in the field of international educational exchange. Romania had a table of its own at the NAFSA country fair and the team members contributed to staffing the global Fulbright and EducationUSA booths as well. The executive director met with Fulbright directors, advisers and representatives of U.S. higher education interested in attracting Romanian applicants for both the Fulbright Award Program for U.S. citizens, as well as independent scholars and students looking for research and study opportunities in the two countries. The various networking events proved to be excellent venues for interacting with potential candidates and institutional representatives as well as exchanging good practices with fellow international educators and advisers, while the sessions and the plenary talks provided ample material for reflection on emergent critical trends in campus internationalization and study abroad programs. 

The Fulbright Educational Advising Center-EducationUSA was happy to host this past week two special events featuring Stanford representative Michelle Lepore (Assistant Dean of Admission, Office of Undergraduate Admission, Stanford University), who visited Bucharest, May 31 to June 1st.

On May 31, our guest delivered an engaging presentation on study opportunities at Stanford University. The participants, mainly high school students, had a chance to learn more about Stanford’s rich academic offerings, undergraduate and graduate research opportunities, the admission process and the generous financial aid available for competitive applicants.

The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest hosted the Final Meeting of the Year for the American Fulbright grantees present in Romania in 2015-2016 on May 26. After the opening remarks by Deputy Chief of Mission Dean Thompson, the U.S. Fulbright grantees presented their teaching and research activities as well as a remarkable series of events in which they were part or actually organized, including participation in conferences, writing of articles, volunteering work.

Once again this year, Fulbright grantees reached an impressive variety of places and environments, from big cities and universities to isolated villages, an intense exchange of knowledge, ideas and feelings taking place among the American professors and students and a very comprehensive Romanian public.

The Fulbright grantees, as well as this outstanding generous and intense Program, deserve all our gratitude.

The event, attended by Marjorie Stern, Cultural Attaché, and other members of the U.S. Mission in Romania and by the Fulbright staff was concluded by a short, but very impressive music program by Colleen Bertsch (violin) and Rachel Susser (flute and pan flute).

Camelia Maianu emigrated from Romania with her family in 1979, and returned to Romania as a Fulbright Research Scholar in 1999-2000, remaining for another 2 years to work with institutionalized and HIV+ children. In the U.S. she has worked as a caseworker for mentally ill children and adolescents, a mental health counselor, a research coordinator, and a GED Instructor at the Cook County Jail in Chicago.

As a trainer of the Circle of Security International, Early Intervention Program for Parents & Children, Camelia Maianu has just returned for a workshop in Bucharest and will return for another event in Petrosani, taking place in June.

Camelia Maianu has a Master of Science in Developmental Psychology from the University of Utah and 16 years of college teaching experience. She is currently Associate Professor of Developmental Psychology at Harrisburg Area Community College, where she has received the President’s Award for Excellence. She teaches a yearly course, Child Development in Context, which provides a study abroad experience to Romania for first generation college students.