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 with professional backgrounds in higher education administration.
Alumni Panelists:
Dr. Jill Blondin is the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where she leads strategic global partnership efforts across the university. As a Fulbright Specialist at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil, she collaborated across five Brazilian higher education institutions to enhance initiatives to develop new education abroad programs, promote international research and recruit international students, and she will serve as a Fulbright Specialist at Romblon State University in the Philippines in summer 2025. Dr. Blondin previously directed VCU Globe, a global education living-learning program that received the 2015 NAFSA Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award and the 2018 Andrew Heiskell Award. In 2023, she was named one of The PIE’s 50 Top Voices of North America’s international education sector and honored as the Senior International Officer of the Year by the Institute of International Education. A 2021-2022 Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) Presidential Fellow, she currently serves on AIEA’s Board. Dr. Blondin holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Andrew (Andy) Novobilski is a Professor of Computer Information Systems at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. With 20 years of experience in higher education administration, he most recently served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Delta State University and Associate Provost for Research and Engagement and Chief Research Officer at the University of North Georgia, where he built infrastructure to support research growth at a predominantly undergraduate institution. As a Fulbright Specialist at Galen University in Belize, he supported the development of a 2+2 entrepreneurship program to enhance educational opportunities for American and Belizean students. An American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow, Dr. Novobilski has served in various other administrative roles including Provost at Gannon University, Dean at Arkansas State University, and Department Head at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dr. Novobilski holds a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from UT Arlington.