April 15, 2024
The Board of Directors of the U.S.-Norway Fulbright Foundation for Educational Exchange, extends a warm thank you to the current Executive Director, Petter Næss, who will retire after 14 successful years in the position, and is pleased to announce the selection of Curt Rice as the next Executive Director, effective August 1, 2024.
- “The Fulbright Norway Board thanks Petter Naess for 14 successful years of growing this world-class program with his outstanding team. The Board is pleased to announce it has selected Professor Curt Rice to become the next Executive Director. Curt brings strong personal and professional ties in both Norway and the United States and is perfectly positioned to build on this program’s strong foundation.” – Kristin Danielsen, Director of the Board of Fulbright Norway and Senior Advisor, National Research Council
During Petter’s tenure, he and the Fulbright Norway team have successfully promoted the exchange of ideas, information, and knowledge between the people of Norway and the United States, thereby adding to the intellectual capital of both countries and increasing mutual understanding as well as awareness of the richness and diversity that each nation has to offer. Since 1949, when the Fulbright program began globally, the Norwegian program has sent more than 4,000 Norwegians to world class institutions in the United States, and welcomed nearly 2,000 Americans to Norway, including this year’s cohorts of 26 Norwegians and 38 Americans. These outstanding students and scholars are pursuing dimensions of human inquiry that range from the fine arts to fusion plasma, while also being cultural ambassadors abroad for their respective countries and home institutions.
The Board of Directors has selected Professor Curt Rice as the next Executive Director. Curt brings experience in higher education and research from both the United States and Norway to this position. He moved to Norway in 1991 after his PhD work at the University of Texas at Austin. He worked at the University of Trondheim (now NTNU) for two years before moving to the University of Tromsø in 1993 where he remained until 2015, inter alia serving as the founding director of UiT’s first Center of Excellence. Since then, he has served as Rector at both OsloMet (Oslo Metropolitan University) and NMBU (the Norwegian University of Life Sciences). Curt is a native of Minnesota, a citizen of both Norway and the United States, and a Fulbright alumnus (Belgium 1984-1985). In addition to his academic field of linguistics, Curt has been particularly engaged in policy debates on the topics of gender equality and diversity as well as academic publishing, having led Kif (Committee on Gender Balance and Diversity in Research) and Cristin (Current Research Information System in Norway). He has a rich network in the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Norwegian Research Council, and beyond.
- “I’m thrilled to be given the opportunity to serve as the next Executive Director of Fulbright Norway. This position brings together my passions for higher education, research, internationalization and tighter relations between my two home countries, Norway and the United States. Adding to that my own experience as a Fulbright grantee, there is no other job I could imagine that so thoroughly synergizes the priorities and ambitions I bring to my work. Fulbright Norway is fortunate to have an excellent staff already and I especially look forward to collaborating with them.” – Professor Curt Rice
Fulbright Norway is a non-profit, bi-national educational organization established under a treaty signed in 1949 by Norway and the United States. The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and U.S. Ambassador to Norway are honorary chairs of Fulbright Norway.
- “The Fulbright Program is the United States’ flagship international educational exchange program. Created in the aftermath of World War II to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries, we are very proud that more than 4,000 Norwegians have benefitted from this important scholarly exchange, as well as 2,000 Americans who have participated in Norway. I would like to thank Petter Naess and the Fulbright Norway team for their stewardship of the program to date, and warmly welcome Dr. Curt Rice as the next Executive Director. He is an outstanding choice, bridging our two countries and ‘turning nations into people’ as was Senator Fulbright’s dream over 75 years ago. We look forward to working with Curt and the team going forward to ensure the best and brightest from both countries take part in these exchanges to strengthen our relations.” — U.S. Embassy Charge D’Affaires Sharon Hudson-Dean
- “The Fulbright Program aims to increase understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. It contributes to the strong relationship between Norway and the United States. I look forward to continuing our work with Curt Rice as the new Executive Director.” — Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide
- “Congratulations to Curt Rice as the new Executive Director for Fulbright Norway. With his knowledge of both the United States and Norway and with his creative and innovative approaches, I am confident that the Fulbright program will continue to be a key instrument in Norway’s collaboration on higher education and research with the United States.” — Minister of Higher Education and Research Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel
For a Norwegian version of the announcement click here