2004 Saint John’s University Graduate Receives Fulbright Award

Brian Schnese, a 2004 graduate of Saint John’s University, has been awarded a Fulbright grant to Germany, in the field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Schnese was a German/management major at SJU from Maple Grove, Minn.

Schnese is one of approximately 2,000 U.S. grantees that will travel abroad for the 2004-05 academic year through the Fulbright Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

“I am hoping that this year abroad will help me determine if a career in education lies ahead,” Schnese said. “However, I am still very interested in using my business background on an international level. Either way, I see graduate school as a must in the near future.”

In addition to teaching, Schnese will also focus on a research project, studying the effect of American English on German youth culture, youth banter and business marketing. “I’m not sure what to expect, but my goals remain to learn as much as I can about the people and culture in this region and to be a positive ambassador of the United States,” Schnese said.

Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Program's purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the rest of the world.

The Fulbright Program, America's flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its inception, the Fulbright Program has exchanged over a quarter of a million people - 98,400 Americans who have studied, taught or researched abroad and 162,600 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the United States. The program operates in more than 150 countries worldwide.