DURANGO, Colo—Tiece Ruffin, dean of the School of Education at Fort Lewis College, has been invited to serve on the Fulbright U.S. Student Program National Screening Committee for the Africa, West/Central 1 Academic Committee.
The appointment recognizes Ruffin’s longstanding commitment to Fulbright programs and international education. In this role, she will review and evaluate applications from students seeking Fulbright awards for academic and research opportunities throughout West and Central Africa.
A former U.S. Fulbright Scholar, Ruffin spent the 2017-2018 academic year in Ghana teaching at the University of Education, Winneba. She previously served for three years as a national disciplinary peer reviewer for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program and as a reviewer for the Fulbright African Research Scholar Program through the U.S. Embassy in Accra.
She also served as a Fulbright Scholar Faculty Campus Liaison at UNC Asheville, mentoring prospective applicants and helping faculty better understand and navigate Fulbright opportunities.
“This invitation offers an opportunity to build on an existing institutional strength in another area of the Fulbright Program and to deepen my knowledge of the Student Program and its selection process in ways that could benefit our students, faculty mentors, and broader internationalization efforts, while also providing another avenue for FLC to strengthen its engagement with the Fulbright Program.”
The appointment also supports broader efforts to elevate FLC’s visibility and expand the college’s national and international partnerships.
“Participation places FLC in conversation with scholars and academic leaders from institutions across the country while contributing to one of the nation's most established international educational exchange programs," Ruffin said. "It also creates opportunities for me to continue building relationships and networks that may be useful as we expand the School of Education's partnerships and national and international profile."
Fort Lewis College has a long history of engagement with the Fulbright program, and in 2024-25, the college was named a Top Producing Institution for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Currently, biology professor Dave Blake is in Denmark as part of an interdisciplinary research team at Aarhus University studying highly malignant brain cancers.