Four George Washington University faculty and staff members have been named Fulbright grant recipients for 2025-26.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship program for international academic exchange. The awards enable recipients to teach, study or conduct research abroad. These awards will allow four GW faculty and staff members to conduct important research and foster international collaboration.

In addition to these four winners, eight GW students and alumnihave also been named Fulbright grant recipients for 2025-26.

GW was highlighted as a top producer of Fulbright scholars and students for the 2024-25 academic year by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). GW made the list with 13 Fulbright U.S. students and five Fulbright U.S. scholars for the academic year.

The GW faculty and staff members selected as grant recipients include:

Kimberly Rush

Rush is the assistant director of the Office for Study Abroad at GW. She received the Fulbright International Education Administrators (IEA) award, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. The award supported Rush's work in Taiwan to strengthen institutional understanding and partnerships in higher education.

The U.S.-Taiwan International Education Administrators seminar was a two-week program that took place in March 2025.

During her time in Taiwan, Rush took part in site visits across many cities including Taipei, Taichung, Hsinchu, Tainan and Kaohsiung. She went to universities, government agencies and private organizations. The program offered a comprehensive overview of Taiwan's higher education landscape and included briefings on national initiatives such as the Ministry of Education's Bilingual 2030 policy, which aims to make education fully bilingual in English and Mandarin within five years.

Rush said given her role in the Office for Study Abroad and the office's existing partnerships with universities and program providers in Taiwan, the seminar offered a valuable opportunity to learn firsthand about partner institutions, explore potential areas for growth and understand how to better prepare to support students studying abroad in Taiwan.

Catherine Cox

Cox, a professor at the GW School of Nursing, received a grant sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. She will work in Trinidad and Tobago to strengthen nursing education at the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC).

During her appointment, Cox will focus on advancing USC's Department of Nurse Education through curriculum consultation, research capacity building and faculty development. Her Fulbright falls under the teaching category, which includes both classroom instruction and institutional consultation.

Cox, who brings decades of experience as a nurse educator and military healthcare leader, began developing the project in collaboration with USC faculty and leadership in early 2024. Her work will focus on building sustainable academic infrastructure and facilitating international collaboration between GW and USC.

Aleksandar Jeremic

Jeremic, a professor of biology and cellular and molecular biology, will conduct his research in Serbia. He will be hosted by the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Belgrade Institute for Multidisciplinary Research.

The overarching objective of Jeremic's project is to combine the expertise and resources of both his home and host institutions to investigate fundamental questions in the field of amyloid biology. His research will explore why and how certain biological proteins that are critical to physiological function aggregate in human tissues, contributing to a range of diseases. A key focus of the project is to assess whether environmentally friendly, degradable and affordable plant biopolymers such as lignin and cellulose, along with their synthetic derivatives, can be used as anti-amyloid drugs.

During his appointment, Jeremic will address four primary research topics related to amyloid biology and biopolymer-based therapeutics.

Jessica McCaughey

McCaughey is an associate professor of writing at the University Writing Program in CCAS. As a 2026 Fulbright Scholar, McCaughey will spend six months in Belfast, Northern Ireland, teaching and conducting research at Queen's University's Seamus Heaney Centre for Creative Writing.

During her appointment, McCaughey will develop a public research project focused on workplace communication in post-Troubles Northern Ireland. Her work aims to explore how historical and cultural contexts continue to shape professional communication practices in contemporary Northern Irish workplaces.

McCaughey and her family will reside in Belfast during the first half of 2026, as she collaborates with colleagues at Queen's University.