Former U.S. Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith Speeches

 Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith's Remarks at the Fulbright Alumni Conference

 April 17, 2003

Ms. Eftodi, President Andreis, distinguished guests, Fulbrighters, ladies and gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to be here today. I would especially like to thank Mr. Ilie Costas and all the members of the Fulbright Alumni Association for all their efforts in organizing this historic conference. The Fulbright Program has been operating here in Moldova for ten years! But the global Fulbright Program is much older. Fulbright has been the premier U.S. government-sponsored exchange program for nearly 60 years.

As World War II drew to a close in 1945, Senator J. William Fulbright wanted to help ensure that such a war would never happen again. The program he envisioned would promote "mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world."

And thus Senator Fulbright put into motion one of the most ambitious international ventures in our history. Today, the Fulbright Program is a vital link - academic, professional, and personal - between the United States and more than 140 countries throughout the world.

But even Senator Fulbright could not have predicted the successes and opportunities that the Fulbright Program would eventually create. Being a Fulbrighter means being one of the men and women - past and present - who are helping shape our world in countries as diverse as Moldova and Mozambique, China and Chile, Indonesia and Italy.

In the course of my twenty-seven year association with the Fulbright Program, I have been gratified to watch hundreds of students, researchers, and professors be transformed by their experiences as Fulbrighters. They advance their academic or professional disciplines, but they also interact with and appreciate foreign cultures firsthand! They become exemplars of mutual understanding, cherishing diversity and promoting tolerance.

As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Fulbright Program in Moldova, let us remember how far we have come, and let this memory strengthen our commitment to support and expand this extraordinary endeavor in the years ahead.

Thank you. And best wishes for a successful conference.