Rhode Island School of Design is a Top Producer of Fulbright US Students for Academic Year 2025–26

PROVIDENCE, RI – February 3, 2026 — The US Fulbright Program recently recognized Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) for having the highest number of students and recent alumni selected for inclusion in the “Special Focus 4 Year School – Other” category. Fulbright Top Producing Institutions value global connection and support members of their campus communities to pursue international opportunities.

Eight RISD alumni (of 13 applicants) were selected for Fulbright US Student Program awards in academic year 2025–26. Five of them are conducting research, teaching English, and/or collaborating with arts institutions in Europe, and three are working further afield in Vietnam, Japan, and Taiwan. Visit risd.edu for more about RISD’s 2025–26 Fulbright winners and their projects. For an overview of RISD’s Fulbright US Student Program, including projects by past RISD Fulbright winners, go to risdfulbright.com.

The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, is the US government’s premier international academic exchange program. Run by the US Department of State and funded by the US government, it provides opportunities for exceptional Americans and participants from 160 countries and locations to study, teach, and conduct research abroad, advancing knowledge, science, and industry through international exchange and collaboration. Fulbright alumni achieve distinction and are recognized as leaders in government, business, science, technology, research, education, and the arts.

“We are thrilled for these eight Fulbrighters and this incredible achievement!” says RISD Career Center Director Kevin Jankowski. “They were awarded this opportunity because of the dynamic application of their RISD education to their proposals and now they get to apply this knowledge throughout the world and in global communities that they deeply care about. The Fulbright is an exceptional interchange of ideas, research, experience, and making that will impact their professional futures and creative work for the rest of their lives.”

Applicants to the Fulbright US Student Program at RISD are supported by the RISD Career Center under the leadership of Jankowski and Fulbright Program Advisor Lisa Cramer, who took on the role in 2014. Cramer and the RISD Careers team provide in-depth support for the development of the project narrative and portfolio, as well as navigating the complex application process. Applicants applying through RISD benefit from the team’s expertise, guidance, feedback, and encouragement. The application process includes a RISD campus review/interview in which RISD faculty and staff have the opportunity to be introduced to fascinating projects, ideas, and work of RISD Fulbright applicants. 

“Every potential applicant gains something—no matter how far they go in the process—from learning more about a host country to making international connections to experiencing an intense application process to interviewing with host country experts,” notes Cramer. “And if they receive the Fulbright, they will engage in a profound and meaningful exploration in a country they care about.” 

Fulbright alumni work to make a positive impact on their communities, sectors, and the world and have included 44 heads of state or government, 63 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 83 MacArthur Fellows, and countless leaders from all sectors and industries across the United States and around the world.  

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit fulbrightprogram.org.

About Rhode Island School of Design
RISD (pronounced “RIZ-dee”) is a creative community founded in 1877 in Providence, Rhode Island. Today, we enroll 2,577 students hailing from 60 countries. Led by a committed faculty, they are engaged in more than 40 full-time bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and supported by a worldwide network of over 33,000 alumni who demonstrate the vital role artists and designers play in today’s society.

Beyond facts and figures, what is the spirit of this community? Through a cross-disciplinary curriculum of studio-based learning and rigorous study in the liberal arts, RISD students are encouraged to develop their own personal creative processes, but they are united by one guiding principle: in order to create, one must question. In cultivating expansive and elastic thinking, RISD seeks to activate a critical exchange that empowers artists, designers and scholars to generate and challenge the ideas that shape our world. RISD’s mission, at both the college and museum, is not only to educate students and the public in the creation and appreciation of works of art and design, but to transmit that knowledge and make global contributions. Visit risd.edu to learn more.

RISD contact:
Jaime Marland
Senior Director, Public Relations / RISD
jmarland@risd.edu
401 427-6954