National and International Leaders

"Fulbrighters have also been extraordinarily active and successful in the world: 34 have won Nobel prizes; 65 have won Pulitzer prizes; 21 have received MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Awards; 14 have received the presidential medal of freedom, our nation’s highest honour..

In the Fulbright Program’s 58-year history, more than a quarter of a million Americans and foreign citizens have benefited from this experience. But whether they become prime ministers or poets, scientists or senators, educators or engineers, Fulbrighters have carried with them a better understanding of cultures other than their own, and as a result, they serve as agents of change, and they contribute to the advancement of knowledge and international understanding."

Former U.S. Secretary of State, Collin L. Powel. – 2004

Sri Lankan Fulbrighters

• Prof., K M de Silva – Historian
• Prof., Ashley Halpe – Professor of Literature
• Mr Bradman Weerakoon – Senior Civil Servant and Secretary to 7 Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
• Shirani Bandaranayake – Supreme Court Justice

United States and Other Countries

• Maya Angelou – Poet , USA
• Aaron Copland – Composer, USA
• Milton Friedman – Nobel Prize in Economics , USA
• John Updike – Writer, USA
• Roslyn Yalow – Noel Prize in Medicine , USA
• Chinua Achebe -Writer, Nigeria
• Ingvar Carlsson – Prime Minister , Sweden
• Umbreto Eco – Writer, Italy
• M. Khusro – Editor-in-Chief, Financial Express, India
• Carlos Ott – Architect , Uruguay