June 21, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Akhlaque Haque, Ph.D., a professor of public administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has been awarded a 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar grant to teach and conduct research in Bangladesh.

Haque, who specializes in Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and government policy, will teach graduate students at BRAC University in Bangladesh to use GIS. He also will conduct a research project to introduce GIS technology and its capabilities as an empowerment tool for community development in that country. He will be in Bangladesh for four months beginning in September.

Haque is one of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Scholar Program. The program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, with the goal of building mutual understanding between United States citizens and the rest of the world.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its inception, the Fulbright Program has exchanged approximately 273,500 people, including 102,900 Americans, who have studied, taught or researched abroad, and 170,600 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the United States. The program operates in more than 150 countries.

Recipients are selected based on academic or professional achievement as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Fulbright recipients are among the more than 30,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year. The Fulbright Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

Haque’s father, Afzal Ul Haque, was the first Fulbright Scholar from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, to the United States in 1957.