Ferris State University will host a ceremony to rededicate its Fulbright Wall in the
Interdisciplinary Resource Center and induct two returning Fulbright scholars.
The newest Fulbright inductees are College of Business professors Greg Gogolin and Bill Smith. Gogolin is a faculty member in the Information Security and Intelligence program while Smith is Management department chair. Their inductions take place on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 4:30 p.m. in the IRC Corridor, near Starbucks.
Gogolin received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach this fall at the University of Chile in Santiago. Gogolin taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Chile. Said Gogolin, prior to his trip, “The University of Chile has a strong Cryptography program, so I am looking to learn how to leverage that expertise and reflect it back into the Information Security and Intelligence program at Ferris. The University of Chile doesn’t have a digital forensics program, so they can benefit from our program at Ferris.”
Gogolin, who came to Ferris in 1999, researched investigative aspects of cybercrime in Chile and further developed his fluency in Spanish.
Smith’s 2013 mission was to improve the overall well-being of one of the world’s poorest countries, Sierra Leone. The Fulbright Scholarship was his vehicle. Smith was awarded the grant to teach and conduct research in Sierra Leone, a country slowly emerging from years of brutal civil war that devastated its economy. Smith taught a course in small business management and entrepreneurship at the University of Sierra Leone in Freetown, the country’s capital.
“I want my students to see the big picture through my experiences,” he said. “The Fulbright will enhance that goal and certainly promote awareness of Ferris.”
The Fulbright Program is a prestigious, international academic exchange sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to promote mutual understanding and respect between nations. Ferris has more than 20 Fulbright scholars. In addition to Gogolin, College of Arts, Sciences and Education professor Daniel Ding received a 2013 Fulbright award to teach at the University of Debrecen in Hungary, and recent graduate Danielle Voorhies was selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, in 2013, in South Korea to teach English.