Central Virginia Chapter / Fulbright Association

At our spring meeting on April 21, 2026, Fred Borch was re-elected as president and treasurer of the Fulbright Association’s Central Virginia Chapter. James Arnold was elected as vice president. Other board members for 2026-27 are:

Duncan Whittome
Marc Hogan
George Leaman
David Lewis
Jeff South
Mary Jo Bracken
Gerald Pyle
John Walsh

Board elections are held annually, and we welcome nominations year-round. If you are interested in serving, let us know.

A recap and photos from our recent meeting. Thanks to all who attended!

Our chapter’s 2026 spring gathering at U.Va. | Central Virginia Chapter | Fulbright Association Our chapter’s 2026 spring gathering at U.Va. The Central Virginia Chapter held its spring gathering on April 21, 2026, at Hotel A on the University of Virginia campus. We had a great turnout! Our Colombian Fulbrighter, Slenka Botello, gave a wonderful presentation. Slenka talked about Caribbean mu...

At its fall meeting on Thursday, the Central Virginia Chapter of the Fulbright Association welcomed Fulbrighters from Argentina, Lebanon, Turkey and Germany, and Jefferson Rodriguez, a Fulbrighter from Costa Rica, gave a presentation on his work at U.Va.

As Fred Borch, the chapter's president, said on Friday, "I think we can all agree that last night was one of our BEST events ever -- thanks to a phenomenal presentation by our favorite Costa Rican Fulbrighter and also some wonderful food and drink and socializing."

Congratulations to Central Virginia Chapter member Jim Arnold, Professor Emeritus (French) at the University of Virginia, on receiving a Fulbright Specialist Program award for a project in Bangladesh.

Prof. Arnold receives Fulbright Specialist award | Central Virginia Chapter | Fulbright Association Prof. Arnold receives Fulbright Specialist award FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 11/13/2024 Contact: ECA Press Office Telephone: 202-632-6445 Albert James Arnold Jr. Receives Fulbright Specialist Award to Bangladesh at Dhaka University The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship B...

Meet another of our 2024-25 Fulbrighters -- Slenka Botello

Slenka is a Colombian Fulbright Scholar and first-year PhD student in the Department of Art and Architectural History at UVA Charlottesville. She holds an M.A. in Art Studies from Ibero University in Mexico City and a BA in History from the National University of Colombia.

Her research interests focus on feminist art history in Latin America, and she is particularly interested in examining how the new narratives of feminist art are transforming art history and curatorial practices in Colombia. Her previous research experience has focused on the category of “monstrosity” to analyze European travelers’ representations of indigenous South Americans from a decolonial perspective.

She has also analyzed the place of demonic and sinful bodies in 18th-century Jesuit Mexican and Colombian art. With a background in art-based research and teaching art history to artists, as well as a deep love for DIY zine projects, Slenka is excited to contribute to the vibrant academic community in Charlottesville and Virginia.

You'll find more information about current and past Fulbrighters, as well as info about the Central Virginia Chapter of the Fulbright Association, on our website:

Introducing our Fulbrighters for 2024-25. First up: *Orsolya Heidenwolf*

"I am from Hungary and currently studying as a Visiting Student Researcher at Virginia Tech College of Engineering Myers-Lawson School of Construction. Here my research is focusing on to understand what are the best technologies that can help the construction industry to be a more effective industry.

"I finished my undergraduate studies and Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Civil Engineering. Then I studied at Istanbul Technical University and also finished my MBA at Budapest. Currently I am working on my PhD dissertation in the field of Business Informatics and my research is focusing on the Construction Industry Digital Transformation at Corvinus University of Budapest."

You'll find more information about current and past Fulbrighters, as well as info about the Central Virginia Chapter of the Fulbright Association, on our website:

https://centralvirginia.fulbrightchapters.org/

Our website has a full report -- with more photos -- on last week's fall mixer at the University of Virginia:

https://centralvirginia.fulbrightchapters.org/upcoming-events/2024-fall-mixer/

We had a great turnout yesterday at our spring Fulbright event here on the grounds of the Univ. of Virginia. We met at 5 PM in a UVA seminar room right by the Rotunda (if you know UVA).

We first had our ANNUAL Board Meeting -- and since everyone on the board was elected or re-elected last year, we are good until 31 March 2025. We plan on doing four events in the 2024-2025 academic year and also launch some advocacy initiatives to benefit Fulbright.

Then we had a social hour -- food and drink -- before having a presentation from our two Argentine Fulbrighters who are both lawyers and whom are both pursuing LLMs at UVA's law school. They talked about criminal law reforms in Argentina. Very very interesting and only about 30 minutes!

-- Fred Borch
Chapter President

We will have our final event for the academic year on Thursday March 28 in Hotel A (on the grounds of UVA near the Rotunda) at 5 PM. All chapter members and all Fulbrighters past and present are invited.

Our Argentine Fulbrighter, Agos Giaroli, who is earning her LLM at UVA's law school, will talk to us about being a government attorney in Argentina and her studies here at UVA. Please come hear Agos!

We will have food and drink and plenty of time for socializing after Agos talks.

See you there!

Any questions -- you can txt me at 434.760.1901 (or call me).

We also will have our Board Meeting at 4:30 PM on March 28 to discuss the 2024-25 calendar and conduct other chapter business. Nominations for chapter officers are due at the end of March -- more to follow on this after I check with the Fulbright Association in Washington, D.C.

All the best,

Fred Borch
President, Central Virginia Chapter