Political Economy professor Rob Dayley has been recognized by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs on their Fulbright Specialist Roster.
Dayley is believed to be the second Fulbright Specialist from the College. Jim Angresano, Emeritus Professor of Economy, also earned Specialist status from 2003 to 2006.
The listing opens the door for Dayley to serve multiple, short-term exchange programs over the next four years. He has already been accepted for one at Naresuan University in Thailand in coordination with the Thailand-United States Educational Foundation (TUSEF). The exchange is scheduled to take place in June in Central Thailand, near Thailand’s ancient capital Sukhothai.
“I’ve led past student groups to Sukhothai many times before and its simply an amazing place to engage Thai culture, history, and society,” Dayley said. “I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity. I’m very excited and feel honored to be listed and selected for my first Specialist exchange.”
According to the Fulbright website, the Fulbright Specialist Program is run by the U.S. Department of State and is a unique opportunity for U.S. academics and established professionals to engage in two- to six-week, project-based exchanges at host institutions across the globe. Only 425 specialists are chosen to travel abroad as part of this program each year.
The exchange will serve multiple purposes for Dayley. He’ll be conducting research for updates and revisions to his academic textbook on Southeast Asia and he’ll also be helping to establish Naresuan University’s undergraduate Model United Nations team which he hopes could lead to future collaborations between Naresuan University and The College of Idaho.
“Model U.N. is underdeveloped in Thailand’s university system in spite of the fact that Bangkok hosts one of the world’s largest United Nations regional offices,” said Dayley, who advises the College’s highly-successful Model U.N. team. “Southeast Asia’s own experience is inseparable from U.N. history itself and I look forward to promoting Model U.N. there as a premier international education program.”
Being selected as a Fulbright Specialist is Dayley’s third Fulbright honor. He was awarded as a Ph.D. Candidate Researcher in 1995-96 and as an Associate Professor at the College in 2006. Both of those Fulbright grants were to Thailand as well. This also represents the second time in the past year that the College has seen one of its own selected for a prestigious Fulbright award, joining Armando Guerrero ’21 who is currently teaching in Spain as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant.
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