Purdue named a top producer of Fulbright scholars for fifth straight year

For the fifth year in a row, Purdue University has secured a spot on the list of top-producing institutions of Fulbright U.S. scholars, reinforcing the university’s role as a global leader in research and scholarly excellence.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those in other countries.

Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has awarded more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared global challenges.

Nine faculty members earned Fulbright U.S. scholar awards for 2025-26, breaking Purdue’s record for the largest number of awardees in a single year. Many are currently pursuing work on their research projects at educational institutes around the world.

Austin Cooper, assistant professor in the Department of History, College of Liberal Arts. Cooper’s research, to be completed in Belgium at the University of Antwerp, focuses on “Inside North Atlantic Security, Outside the Alliance: French Nuclear Weapons During the 1970s.”

Sébastien Hélie, professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences. Hélie was selected to serve as the Distinguished Chair in Arts and Social Sciences in Canada and North America while researching “Assessing the Relations Between Subjective Time Estimation and Cognitive Effort in Problem-Solving” at Carleton University in Canada.

Stephen Meyers, associate professor of horticulture in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture. Meyers’ research project, “Black Soldier Fly Compost Tea for Low-Input and Sustainable Weed Management,” will be completed at Southern Cross University in Australia.

Zoltan Nagy, the Arvind Varma Professor of Chemical Engineering in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering. Nagy’s research, focused on “AI-Driven Crystal Engineering,” will be completed at Politecnico di Torino in Italy.

Krishna Nemali, associate professor of horticulture in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture. Nemali’s project is based at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in India and focused on “Climate-Smart Agriculture: Reducing Water Wastage and Increasing Nitrogen Use Efficiency Using Smart Sensors With Decision Support and IoT (Internet of Things) Capability.”

Huidan (Whitney) Yu, professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Purdue University in Indianapolis. Yu’s project, titled “Developing Digital Technologies for Oil Recovery and Sustainability,” will be completed at Santa Catarina State University in Brazil.

Wenbin Yu, the Milton Clauser Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, College of Engineering. Yu is researching “Multiscale Modeling of Bioinspired Metamaterials” at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Qianlai Zhuang, professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, College of Science. Zhuang’s research project, based at the University of Eastern Finland, focuses on “Investigating the Role of Peatlands and Wildfires in Environment and Climate Change Over the Arctic.”

Arun Bhunia, professor in the Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture. Bhunia received a research award for “Prevention and Control of Salmonella Zoonotic Infection Using Novel Next-Generation Probiotics,” to be completed at the National Research Centre in Egypt. Bhunia declined the award.

“Purdue’s Fulbright Scholar awardees are a testament to the strength of our faculty and the global impact of their research,” says Christopher Lukasik, associate professor of English and director of faculty Fulbright awards. “Purdue continues to be a leader in fostering intellectual exchange between America and the world.”

Fulbright alumni work to make a positive impact on their communities and have included 63 Nobel laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners and 83 MacArthur fellows.

The Fulbright Scholar Program offers over 400 teaching, research, or combination teaching and research awards in more than 135 countries each year. For more information about the program, visit the Fulbright website or email Lukasik at clukasik@purdue.edu.