Around Tappan Square
Oberlin Continues Stretch as Top Fulbright Producer BY SCOTT WARGO
Oberlin has been recognized as a top producer of Fulbright students for the 13th consecutive year, placing fifth among baccalaureate institutions in 2021-22 and sending nine scholars to study abroad. “Oberlin’s success is a testament to the leadership development of an Oberlin experience and the global engagement of our students, faculty, staff, and curriculum,” says Nicholas
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Petzak, Oberlin’s director of fellowships and awards. “I think it is particularly notable that Oberlin has remained a top producer of Fulbright students during the pandemic. Our students have remained committed to the ‘promotion of international goodwill’ that drives the promise of the Fulbright Program, and Obies have refused to forget about the broader world.” Oberlin Fulbright
scholars are engaged in a range of experiences around the globe: collaborating with astrophysicists in Montréal, teaching English to secondary students in Austria, and researching the cultural heritage of Benin in West Africa. The Fulbright Program was established more than 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries and is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. Since 1970, more than 250 Oberlin students have received Fulbright awards.
PHIL ANTH ROPY
$1.6M Gift Supports Endowed Fellowship in Jazz History at Oberlin Conservatory BY ERICH BURNETT
for more than a decade, the generosity of James R. and Susan Neumann has led to incomparable opportunities for Oberlin students to study the history of jazz. Now a new gift from the Neumanns will offer additional paths to explore the quintessentially American art form. The Neumanns, who in 2011 gifted to Oberlin an extensive collection of more than 100,000 recordings, books, posters, and other artifacts chronicling the history of jazz, have donated $1.6 million to establish a fund supporting the creation of an endowed conservatory faculty position in jazz history. An allocation of $100,000 of the overall gift will support the Neumann Jazz Collection. The newly endowed fund makes possible the creation of a postdoctoral fellowship. Each fellow will be appointed for a two-year period on an ongoing basis and will teach two courses on specialized topics in jazz history. Those courses will draw on the conservatory’s expansive archival materials provided by the Neumanns and others. In addition, each fellow will pursue individual research, which will involve Oberlin students. “I’m delighted that, through this generous gift, we will be able to expand our offerings in jazz history in such a meaningful and enduring way,” says Dean of the Conservatory William Quillen. “Increasing the number of academic courses dedicated to jazz history has been an interest of numerous members of our community here at Oberlin—and a particular interest of mine—and I’m thrilled that we are able to achieve such a goal through the addition of bright new faculty members. The generous, longtime support of Jim and Susan Neumann has been instrumental to the development of the unrivaled opportunities for jazz study that exist at Oberlin.”
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