Grantee and Alumni News

There is always a lot to celebrate, as our outstanding grantees are always doing something interesting, reaching milestones, taking on new responsibilities and just being fabulous as they continue to promote Fulbright and Iceland-U.S. relations in one way or another!

• Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir, Fulbright-NSF Arctic Research Scholar 2022-2023, will be leaving her position as a Professor of Politics at Bates College this summer, as she has been appointed rector of the University of Akureyri. We look forward to welcoming her back to Iceland in her important new role!
• Cayla Rosché, Fulbright-MFA Arctic Scholar 2022-2023, has been selected Fulbright Alumni Ambassador and will be representing the Fulbright Scholar Program at campus presentations and academic conferences across the U.S. for the next two years. We can’t think of a better person for this important role.
• Joe Roman, Fulbright-NSF Arctic Research Scholar 2018-2019, recently published Eat, Poop, Die. How Animals Make Our World. This is a fascinating scientific exploration on earth’s ability to sustain life, which started during Joe’s Fulbright experience in Iceland.
• The latest translation by Larissa Kyzer, Fulbright fellow 2012, takes on the breakthrough novel The Mark (Merking) by Fríða Ísberg. The excellent translation is published by Faber & Faber.
• Rachel Britton, Fulbright-MoE 2020-2021, received the 2023 Leif and Inger Sjöberg Prize for translations from Brynja Hjálmsdóttir’s poetry collection Kona lítur við (Woman Creature).
• Meghan Orman defended her PhD dissertation in February and has accepted a post-doc at Cornell University. This June, she was one of the keynote speakers at Nordic Research Symposium on Science Education in Reykjavik.
• Salvör Rafnsdóttir, VSR 2020-2021, defended her doctoral dissertation on mild hypothermia response at the University of Iceland in April. This project expands the current knowledge of the mild hypothermia pathway in mammalian cells and mammals. This study has revealed novel therapeutic avenues for targeted temperature management/therapeutic hypothermia through pharmacological means.
• Nicholas Borbely, Fulbright-MOE 2019-2020, will be starting a Master’s program with continuation to a PhD in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin where he will also be a TA teaching Modern Icelandic.
• Fulbright Chronicles recently reviewed the book Corporate Social Responsibility in the Arctic: The New Frontiers of Business, Management, and Enterprises, co-written by Fulbright Arctic Initiative II Scholar Lára Jóhannsdóttir and Gisele M. Arruda. You can read a review here.
• Sydney Fox, Fulbright fellow 2022-2023, was selected for the 2024 Leifur Eiríksson fellowship to continue her M.Sc. studies in Digital Health at Reykjavík University.
• Guðbjörg Ríkey Th. Hauksdóttir, Visting Student Researcher 2023-2024, has been made Research Fellow at the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network.
• Sóllilja Bjarnadóttir, Visting Student Researcher 2022-2023, received an Early Career Paper Prize from the EDDA Research Center, ReNEW, and the NordForsk fund at the Nordic Challenges conference this May. The paper explores how trust in both state and non-state institutions correlates with attitudes towards key energy transition policies in Iceland.

Alumni Association Iceland News

At the annual meeting at the end of February, a new board was elected and comprises now of Kristján Theodór Sigurðsson (chair), Ingibjörg Friðriksdóttir, Margaret Cormack, Sóllilja Bjarnadóttir and Sólveig Ásta Sigurðardóttir. We wish the new board much success in the work ahead!