About Fulbright

Honorary Co-Chairs

Icelandic representatives

Dr. Berglind Tómasdóttir (alternate) is a flutist and interdisciplinary artist, as well as a professor in contemporary music performance at Iceland University of the Arts. In her work she frequently explores identity and archetypes, as well as music as a social phenomenon. Berglind holds degrees in flute playing from Reykjavik College of Music and The Royal Danish Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and a DMA in contemporary music performance from University of California, San Diego, where she was a Fulbright fellow.

Dr. Bryndís Björk Ásgeirsdóttir is an associate professor and the head of the Department of Psychology at Reykjavik University. She received her PhD from King´s College London in 2011 and has in her research focused on trauma, mental health and the effects of sexual abuse. In 2018 Bryndís was a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University.

Hrund Ólöf Andradóttir is a professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Iceland. She received her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from MIT in 2000. She worked for 6 years in management consulting before joining the University of Iceland in 2006. Dr. Andradóttir has contributed to the research fields of sustainable urban drainage, air quality, and physical limnology.

Páll Melsted is a professor in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Iceland, where he has worked since 2011. He received his PhD degree in Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization from the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in 2009. In 2014, he received a Fulbright scholar grant to conduct research at the University of California, Berkeley.

Oddur Þór Vilhelmsson (chair) is a professor of Biotechnology at the Faculty of Natural Resource Science at the University of Akureyri. He has a Ph.D. in Food Science from Pennsylvania State University, where he was a Fulbright fellow in 1996. Oddur completed his doctorate degree in 2000 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston from 2000 to 2002. He has been a faculty member at the University of Akureyri since 2004.

U.S. representatives

Patrick Geraghty joined the U.S. Embassy Reykjavik team as the Public Affairs Officer in August 2020. He previously served as the Assistant Public Affairs Officer at U.S. Embassy Oslo, Public Affairs Officer at U.S. Embassy Paramaribo, and Deputy Spokesperson at U.S. Embassy Kabul. In addition, he served as a Consular Officer at U.S. Consulate General Ciudad Juarez. After more than 23 years in both active duty Navy and Navy Reserve assignments, he retired with the rank of Commander.

Mr. Geraghty was born and raised in Boston, MA. He is a graduate of Boston Collge and Suffolk University Law School.

Donna joined the embassy team in March 2019. She is a fifth tour officer, having served most recently in the Consular Affairs Bureau in Washington where she spent two years as a country desk officer covering posts in the Western Hemisphere, as well as one year as a special assistant in the Office of Policy Coordination and Public Affairs. She has also served as a consular officer in Monterrey, Mexico. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Donna worked in education and tourism. Donna graduated from the American University in Washington, D.C. with degrees in International Relations and Russian Studies. She is originally from Philadelphia, PA.  She lives in Reykjavik with her well-travelled dog, Bailey.

Dr. Catherine Chambers (alternate) is the Research Manager of the University Centre of the Westfjords. She received her PhD in Fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2016. In her research, Catherine focuses on human dimensions of fisheries governance and small-scale fisheries management, among other things. Catherine was a Fulbright student in Iceland in 2011.

Margaret Cormack (vice chair) is an affiliate professor at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Iceland and a visiting researcher at the Árni Magnusson Institute for Icelandic Studies. She was a professor at the Department of Religious Studies at the College of Charleston from 1995 to 2017 and is currently professor emeritus. She received her PhD in Medieval Studies from Yale University in 1983. Margaret received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant to Iceland in 1994.

Elizabeth Lay is a researcher and PhD student at the School of Education, University of Iceland, with a focus on immigrant parent involvement. She previously worked as an architect from 2000 to 2010 in Reykjavík and Washington, D.C. She has volunteered for immigrant organizations, served on the Immigrant Council of the Ministry of Welfare, the School Board of the International School of Iceland, and founded Vera Center, an information service for immigrant citizens of Reykjavík.