The Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) and the American Institute in Taiwan hosted a gala dinner on November 15 at the Regent Taipei Hotel in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright Program.

Since U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed legislation into law to establish the program in 1946, the Fulbright program has sponsored nearly 4,000 grantees from Taiwan and the U.S., supporting Taiwan-U.S. relations through educational and cultural exchange. Through scholarship in universities and research institutions, language instruction in English and Chinese, and artistic collaboration in museums, theaters, and concert halls, the Fulbright Program in Taiwan fosters people-to-people ties in all walks of life.

For the gala, FSE presented a film introducing Fulbright’s 64-year-old time-honored journey in Taiwan, the announcement of our Fulbright Taiwan Hall of Fame Laureates 2021, and a Keynote Speech presented by Dr. Chi-Huey Wong, winner of the 2021 Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry, outlining his role in universal COVID vaccine development.

Our guests included presidents from nine partner universities; ministers and deputy ministers from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, Culture, and Consular Affairs; members of the Board of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange; and AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk, Public Affairs Section Chief and FSE Board Chair Diane Sovereign, and other AIT representatives.

We at the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange are grateful to our many governmental, institutional, and individual sponsors as we support over 400 American and Taiwan grantees in FY 2021. We look forward to meaningful contributions to society over the next 75 years.