Announced the election of Curt Rice as the new Executive Director of Fulbright Norway

Announced the election of Curt Rice as the new Executive Director of Fulbright Norway

The Board of Directors of Fulbright Norway or the US-Norway Fulbright Foundation for Educational Exchange (www.fulbright.no), would like to thank current Managing Director Petter Naess, who is retiring after 14 successful years in this position, and is pleased to announce the election of Curt Rice as the next Managing Director with effect from August 1, 2024.

• “The Fulbright Norway Board would like to thank Petter Naess for 14 successful years of further developing this world-class program with his outstanding team. The Board is pleased to announce that it has selected Professor Curt Rice as the next Executive Director. Curt brings strong personal and professional contacts in both Norway and the United States and is perfectly positioned to build on the strong foundation of this program.” – Kristin Danielsen, Board Director of Fulbright Norway and Senior Advisor, National Research Council

During Petter’s tenure, he and the Fulbright Norway team have successfully promoted the exchange of ideas, information, and knowledge between the people of Norway and the United States, strengthening the intellectual capital of both countries and increasing mutual understanding and awareness of the wealth and the diversity that each nation has to offer. Since 1949, when the Fulbright Program was launched worldwide, the Norwegian program has sent more than 4,000 Norwegians to world-class institutions in the United States and welcomed nearly 2,000 Americans to Norway, including this year’s cohorts of 26 Norwegians and 38 Americans. These outstanding students and scientists pursue dimensions of human inquiry ranging from the fine arts to fusion plasma, while serving as cultural ambassadors abroad for their respective countries and home institutions.

The board has elected Professor Curt Rice as the next executive director. Curt brings higher education and research experience from the United States and Norway to this position. After completing his doctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin, he moved to Norway in 1991. He worked for two years at the University of Trondheim (now NTNU) before moving to the University of Tromsø in 1993, where he stayed until 2015 and, among other things, served as founding director of UiT’s first competence center. Since then he has been rector at both OsloMet (Oslo Metropolitan University) and NMBU (the Norwegian University of Life Sciences). Curt is a native of Minnesota, a Norwegian and American citizen, and a Fulbright alumnus (Belgium 1984-1985). In addition to his academic field of linguistics, Curt was particularly involved in political debates on gender equality and diversity, as well as in scientific publishing, leading Kif (Committee on Gender Balance and Diversity in Research) and Cristin (Current Research Information System in Norway). He has a rich network in the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Norwegian Research Council and beyond.

• “I am very excited about the opportunity to serve as the next Executive Director of Fulbright Norway. This position combines my passions for higher education, research, internationalization and closer relations between my two home countries of Norway and the United States. Adding my own experiences as a Fulbright Scholar, I can’t think of another job that so well combines the priorities and ambitions I bring to my work. Fulbright Norway is fortunate to already have outstanding staff and I am particularly looking forward to working with them.” – Professor Curt Rice

Fulbright Norway is a non-profit, binational educational organization founded on the basis of an agreement signed in 1949 between Norway and the United States. The Norwegian Foreign Minister and the US Ambassador to Norway are honorary chairs of Fulbright Norway.

• “The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program of the United States. We were created after World War II to improve mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries. We are very proud that more than 4,000 Norwegians benefited from this important scientific exchange, as well as 2,000 Americans who participated in Norway. I would like to thank Petter Naess and the Fulbright Norway team for their leadership of the program so far and welcome Dr. Curt Rice would like to be warmly welcomed as the next Managing Director. He is an excellent choice because he will build a bridge between our two countries and “make nations people,” as Senator Fulbright dreamed of over 75 years ago. We look forward to working with Curt and the team in the future to ensure that the best and brightest from both countries participate in this exchange, strengthening our relationships.” – US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Sharon Hudson-Dean

• “The Fulbright Program aims to advance understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries through the exchange of people, knowledge and skills. It contributes to the strong relationship between Norway and the United States. I look forward to continuing our work with Curt Rice as our new Managing Director.” — Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide

• “Congratulations to Curt Rice as the new Managing Director of Fulbright Norway. Given his knowledge of both the United States and Norway, as well as his creative and innovative approaches, I am confident that the Fulbright Program will continue to be a key tool in Norway’s collaboration with the United States in higher education and research.” — Minister of Higher Education and Research Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel

For a Norwegian version of the announcement click here