April Fool's Day 2006.

This seems like a good day to start a blog for the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (FAST).

I was a Fulbright Grantee to West Germany in 1989 - the year the Berlin Wall fell - and so I was in the last group of Fulbrighters to "West Germany." Thereafter, they just were going to "Germany." After my year as a Fulbrighter, I was interested in meeting with other scientists who had gone on Fulbright exchanges to foreign countries - Americans who went overseas or foreigners who came to the US. The internet was just beginnng and Google certainly did not exist, so there was no easy way for us to link up.

And so, FAST was an idea that floated around for a decade. In the fall of 2000, I organized a small group, and we incorporated an organization: the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology. But I was busy with my three small children, so not much happened until 2003 when I did a mailing and got over 100 alumni interested. We established a formal board of directors, obtained our non-profit status from the US Federal Government, designed a simple website, and started sending out newsletters.

In 2003-2004, we remained a completely volunteer organization, with the board meeting once a month via conference call and me writing the newsletters. Also in 2004, we started organizing "Fulbright Forums" - meetings where Fulbright grantees, alumni, hosts and friends could exchange ideas and learn from each other.

In 2005, we decided it was time to move forward as an organization - and so we began to approach members, foundations, organizations, and others for funding. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation came through with a $35,000 grant for an on-line history project, and we were off.

That was almost exactly ten months ago. Our income in 2005 was nearly $70,000, and our goal is to break $100,000 this year. Some of it pays my salary. The rest pays for programs, interns, office supplies, travel, and meeting expenses.

Since then, I have sent thousands of emails, met with two Nobel Prize winners, hosted a conference in Berlin with 140 registered participants from 25 countries, and hosted programs in Belgium, Morocco, and several US states. With so much going on, I hired a Fulbright alumus, Emily Peckenham, who also was a grantee to Germany, to help out on projects, and this week we are interviewing for a summer intern - again a Fulbrighter is being sought out.

With this Blog, I will be sharing some of our successes (and perhaps some of our mistakes). I want to close by thanking our Board of Directors for their advise and assistance - David, Torsten, Flynn, Maggie, & Bob. Also our former board member Michelle and Karl who just joined the board in February. Also thanks to our members and donors.

You can read more about the Academy on our website: www.FulbrightAcademy.org