This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Fulbright Program in Austria. No other academic or cultural exchange program has contributed so much to promoting mutual understanding between the peoples of Austria and the United States.

In an interview with Austrian Information, Dr. Lonnie Johnson spoke about current developments in the field of Austrian-American educational exchange. 

William B. Bader was one of the first Americans of his generation to profit from the Fulbright experience, and his subsequent career made him an exemplary representative of the Fulbright spirit. In 1953 Bader was among first Fulbright participants of a class sent to Germany.

A grandson of mine has just returned from a trip to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, while my granddaughter recently enjoyed tramping through parts of Australia and New Zealand: Cosmopolitanism in the era of globalization. Sixty years earlier, the Statue of Liberty or even a showboat in St. Louis, “Mizzoura,” were more spectacular than Angkor Wat. America was “the” world hitherto undisclosed to anyone I knew. Studying at a U.S. university ignited minds and hearts.

I have very fond memories of my Fulbright year from 1961-62. The Fulbright Fellowship sponsored my travels after having secured a full scholarship from Columbia University to study for a Master of Science degree in Architecture.

Initially drawn to Internal Medicine, I owe my professional change of interest in the clinical and theoretical aspects of Pathology to my first-time visit to the U.S. from 1969 – 1971 as a NIH Fellow with the Institute of Pathology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.  The turning point was largely due to the significant role played by my instructor Professor Hans Popper (1903 – 1988), who at the time was Dean and Head of the Institute of Pathology and later President of the Mount Sinai Medical School.

There are two grand American post-WW II initiatives which had a lasting, even formative, impact on my life: First, the Marshall Plan - whose program helped Austria to achieve peace and prosperity in the Cold War era - which morphed into the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), where I have been serving as Austria's Permanent Representative since 2008. 

I had taught an environmental seminar at the University of Redlands campus in Salzburg in June 2007.  Over some excellent beers at the Augustinerbräu, we discussed the fact that nothing was happening in Washington D.C. at the time (environmentally) and that our own Austrian-born governor, Gov. Schwarzenegger was taking a leadership role with respect to global warming legislation.

In 2008, I had the pleasure of being the first Fulbright BOKU Distinguished Chair in Sustainability at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Sciences at the University of Agriculture in Vienna. This year I was invited to be a guest professor at the University of Agriculture and to give a similar course, although in a much shorter time (one month).

I was in Austria for the academic year 2003-2004.  My research on the Habsburg Empire made Vienna a logical choice.  The archival materials in the Austrian State Archives and the published materials at the Austrian National Library are essential sources for historians interested in Central Europe.  Thanks to the Fulbright, I was able to complete my first book manuscript, which was published in 2005.  The Fulbright gave me the chance to begin professional friendships with my colleagues in Austria, as well as other fellows from East European countries. 

This year marks the 15th Anniversary of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, established by the Austrian government in 1995 with the strong support of all political parties in Austria. As a gesture of reconciliation to Austria’s Holocaust survivors throughout the world, the Austrian National Fund has provided one-time payments to victims of the Holocaust. Since its founding the Fund has been instrumental in reaching out to many Austrian émigrés who have found a new home in the United States.

In 2010, the Austrian National Fund will celebrate its 15th anniversary, under the inspired leadership of Hannah Lessing and with the support of the broad Austrian political leadership. It has been a record of great success, vision and leadership.    

This year marks the 400th Anniversary of Santa Fe, established in 1610 as capital of “New Spain” under the rule of the Habsburg Emperor Philip III, grandson of the famous Austrian Emperor Charles V. During his reign the Habsburg Empire comprised the colonies of the Spanish Crown and territories which reached from Central Europe to the Americas and were described as the Empire upon which the sun never sets.

Professor Bruce Pauley, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Central Florida, was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Letters and the Arts 1st Class. The award was presented by Austrian Ambassador to the United States Dr. Christian Prosl during a ceremony on April 6, 2010, at the residence of the Austrian Honorary Consul in Orlando, Florida, Toby Unwin.

Native Austrian, long-time resident and prominent figure among circles of government leaders and foreign diplomats in Washington, D.C., Gertrude d’Amecourt, became 100 years old on May 24, 2010.