MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University’s Don Roy, Department of Marketing professor within the Jones College of Business, has been selected for a Fulbright Specialist Program award — an accolade that sends him this summer to teach at Tallinn University in the northern European country of Estonia.

In announcing Roy’s award, the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board stated in a news release that Roy will complete a project at Tallinn University “that aims to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both in the U.S. and overseas through a variety of educational and training activities within Business Administration.”

Roy is one of over 400 U.S. citizens who share expertise with foreign receiving institutions abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program each year. Recipients of Fulbright Specialist awards are selected based on academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership in their field, and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the U.S. and abroad, the release states.

Roy came to MTSU in 2000, first serving as an assistant professor, then as an associate professor, and has been a full professor since 2010. His first Fulbright experience will send him to Estonia in July, where he will teach for two weeks.

“My background in teaching and research in brand strategy was a good fit for the type of course Tallinn University wanted to offer in its summer school program,” said Roy, who has been recognized for teaching excellence at the university and national levels. “My teaching experience includes leading study abroad programs that visited Tallinn and Tallinn University. Familiarity with Estonia and the university, and the relationships formed over time, contributed to developing a competitive project proposal.”

Roy said he built faculty relationships at Tallinn through a colleague at another university who taught there as a Fulbright Scholar and Fulbright Specialist. When Roy stepped in to lead his department’s study abroad trip to Finland, Sweden, and Estonia several years ago — his first visit to Europe — he quipped that among his questions was “Where is Estonia?” and “Why are we going there?”

“I immediately fell in love with the charm of Tallinn’s Old Town (one of the best preserved medieval old towns in Europe) and was impressed by Estonia’s reputation as one of the most tech-forward countries in Europe,” he said. “Since then, I have gone from having no familiarity with Estonia to visiting six times, becoming acquainted with the history and culture of the country, and wanting to immerse myself further by teaching at Tallinn University.”

‘Cannot wait to teach’

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and those of other countries. 

Fulbright is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and foreign receiving institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.

Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Fulbright recipients address critical global issues in all disciplines, while building relationships, knowledge, and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alums have achieved distinction in many fields, including 60 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 88 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 39 who have served as heads of state or government.

Roy, who hopes to land a Fulbright Scholar Award to spend a full semester in Estonia in the future, said he felt “overwhelmed” when learning that he’d been named a Fulbright Specialist, knowing the “many worthy scholars” who apply each year.

“Receiving the award feels like an acknowledgment of years of developing my craft in the classroom,” Roy continued. “I cannot wait to teach one of my favorite subjects to Tallinn University students.”

For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Press Office at 202-632-6452 or e-mail [email protected].

— Jimmy Hart ([email protected])