The opportunity to study and teach overseas has convinced one Scholar-in-Residence of the benefits of international exchange. Badar Alam Iqbal, a business administration professor at Aligarh Muslim University in India, was granted a Fulbright award to teach international business and global issues to graduate and undergraduate students at South Carolina's Claflin University.

For Iqbal, his six-month stay between October 2004 and April 2005 was a fulfilling experience. He says that he has learned as much, if not more than his students from the visit. Iqbal gained valuable knowledge in how to make cooperative efforts work, saying it was a lesson and an experience in dedication in both work and life.

The most memorable experience Iqbal had during his stay was the opportunity to deliver lectures concerning India's economic transformation at different colleges and business organizations. Those lectures led to his building relationships with US professors with whom he can share and discuss economic relations between the US and India.

Sharing ideas doesn't stop at mere conversation. As a Scholar-in-Residence, Iqbal was also given the chance to publish several papers including his analysis on the global economy in The Columbia University Press's Columbia International Affairs Online.

The lectures and the academic papers are all part of bridging society. "Exchange programs are essential for creating and establishing academic linkages which are sine-quo-non for building a better and purposeful understanding among the academicians," Iqbal said.

Iqbal has received many awards and fellowships including three German Academic Exchange Service awards, a World Bank fellowship in Japan and a Ford Foundation fellowship. Of all the international exchange programs that he has participated in, Iqbal believes that the Fulbright Scholar Program provides some of the best resource facilities and accommodations, especially for the scholar's family. Both Iqbal and his wife, Tehmona, are very pleased that their 12-year-old son was given the opportunity to study in a US middle school and interact in a new and productive environment.

"The Fulbright Fellowship is one of the world's most prestigious Fellowships and is also an honor to secure," Iqbal said. "I am fully convinced that the Fulbright Program is an asset to academics from the world over and it gives enormous opportunities to teach and research." He hopes to have the opportunity to return to the US to teach and conduct research as he continues to forge links with US colleagues.

As a program within Fulbright, the primary objective of the worldwide S-I-R Program is to bring scholars and professionals from abroad to US campuses that do not normally have the opportunity to host visiting scholars. These institutions are usually interested in initiating international programs and curricula, global studies or area-specific academic programs. Institutions that serve student populations that are underrepresented in international exchange programs, including minority-serving institutions and community colleges, are of particular interest.