Kathleen Perley Named Fulbright Scholar to Spain

Fort Worth, TX

6/27/2010

Kathleen Perley, a senior speech pathology major/Spanish minor from Houston, has been named Fulbright Scholar to Spain. Perley joins Christina Durano as the first TCU students to receive Fulbright awards since 2005.

The Fulbright Scholar Program will fund between 10-12 months of research in Spain where Perley will examine second language acquisition. Her focus will be on the phonetics of Spanish and English and how they interact with each other while individuals acquire the second language. She will also serve as a teaching assistant in a secondary school in Madrid. Her grant is made possible through the sponsorship of the Regional Government of Madrid and the Commission for Cultural, Educational and Scientific Exchange between the United Sates and Spain. The bi-national Commission is financed by contributions from the governments of Spain and the United States.

“Receiving the Fulbright grant means the world to me,” said Perley. “When I studied abroad last year in Seville, I discovered a true passion for the language and culture of Spain. It was during time abroad that I decided to couple my background in speech pathology with Spanish.”

The Fulbright Scholar Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. Established in 1946 by the U.S. Congress to "enable the government of the United States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries,” the Fulbright program receives its primary source of funding through an annual appropriation from Congress to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions in foreign countries, and in the United States, also contribute financially through cost-sharing and indirect support, e.g., through salary supplements, tuition waivers, and university housing.