This information session provides prospective U.S. applicants with an in-depth look at the Fulbright Specialist Program and the opportunity to hear from a panel of Fulbright Specialist alumni who completed projects in the Near East/North Africa region.
Alumni panelists:
Sheree Josephson served as a 2022 Fulbright Specialist at Radio ML in Tunisia. She is the Rodney H. Brady presidential distinguished professor, a former chair of the Department of Communication, and founding director of the Master of Professional Communication program at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. She recently returned from Tunis, Tunisia, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, working with the staff of a community radio station that focuses on serving underserved and disadvantaged listeners, especially those in the disabled community. Josephson is a noted eye-tracking researcher who has published two edited books: the second edition of “Handbook of Visual Communication: Theory, Methods, and Media” published by Routledge Publishing and “Visualizing the Web: Evaluating Online Design from a Visual Communication Perspective” published by Peter Lang Publishing. She has also published numerous journal articles and book chapters. Josephson worked as a journalist for 15 years before becoming an academic. In 2021, she was honored with the Service to Utah Journalism by the Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Terik Tidwell is an award-winning innovator, investing in the capacity of individuals, communities, and organizations. Over the past 17 years, he has worked at the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology, policy, philanthropy, and education facilitating inclusive tech-based economic development. Recently, he received a Fulbright award within the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to develop a roadmap to accelerate innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization across the country. Tidwell currently serves as the Director of Inclusive Innovation and interim director of Innovation Ecosystems at VentureWell, where he leads the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategies, networks, policies, and programs to support innovators and institutions’ innovative capacity.
Prior to joining VentureWell, Terik was the founding Executive Director of the Smith Tech-Innovation Center and Director of STEM Innovation Initiatives at Johnson C. Smith University. While at JCSU he developed strategic partnerships and implemented innovative programs to enhance innovation, entrepreneurship, and tech-based economic development. During his six-year tenure, he acquired and managed $19 million in extramural funding from federal agencies, corporations, and philanthropic organizations. His efforts led to the university being recognized as an Innovation Ecosystem Partner and the transition of a successful spinout company. In 2021, Tidwell was elected to a two year term to the joint-board of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) where he facilitated the development of a roadmap for enhancing the innovative capacity for Minority-Serving Institutions. Additionally, he was a frequent consultant to major corporations, foundations, startups, and investors.
In the community, Tidwell is an advisor to the North Carolina Innovative Development for Economic Advancement Foundation and chair of the board for the Foundation for Black Philanthropy. He also serves as an advisor to Harvard Business Review, Greenlight Fund, HBCUvc, and Black Tech Ventures.
A New Jersey native, Tidwell is a former Google AI awardee, and a former Global Innovation Fellow and Young Leaders of Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellow with the State Department. He has been published in IEEE and cited several times in major news outlets. His undergraduate and graduate studies include Technology, Finance, Marketing at Monmouth University, Fordham University Graduate School of Business, and Venture Finance at UC-Berkeley Law School.