Three Sacramento State professors have been awarded Fulbright scholarships this semester. Fulbright awards are given to highly qualified faculty members who go to a foreign country to lecture and conduct research.

Patrick Cannon, associate professor of government, is going to the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa for his research project.

Thomas Decker, art lecturer, has spent this semester in the Philippines.

Susanne Lindgren, professor of biological sciences, will be going to Germany next year. Lindgren will be conducting research on a recently-discovered form of E. Coli bacteria.

“I will have the opportunity to see different styles,” Lindgren said about teaching in Germany. “It may positively affect my teaching style, it could educate me.”

The Fulbright award was created to foster “mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world,” said Senator J. William Fulbright in 1945. Congress approved funding for the award the following year.

The award is given to about 1,000 recipients per year in the U.S. The two most active countries in the program are Japan and Germany.

Lindgren described the multipage application process as being “like writing a Master’s thesis.”

Derek Fleming can be reached at [email protected]