October 27, 2008

It’s a busy Fulbright Scholars Program year at California State University, Fresno. A physicist from the Republic of Georgia returned to campus, his Fresno State faculty host is going to Russia, an English professor is lecturing in Norway and a philosophy professor will do research in Wales.

Physicist Dr. Merab Gogberashvili is back on campus for a one-year research fellowship. His arrival was delayed somewhat as he obtained visas in his embattled country, where he is a senior research fellow at the Andronikashvili Institute of Physics in Tbilisi.

Gogberashvili, an international expert and an originator of the brane-world model in theoretical physics, did research at Fresno State in 2003 and 2006 with Dr. Douglas Singleton, an associate professor of physics and co-chair of the Department of Physics.

Gogberashvili and Singleton’s work, which includes three journal articles, could explain why gravity is so much weaker than nature’s other fundamental forces.

During his year at Fresno State, Gogberashvili will travel around the nation giving lectures and presenting findings on his latest pioneering research work.

Singleton was awarded a second Fulbright fellowship to do research at the Peoples Friendship University of Russia and the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics in Moscow for the spring semester. His first Fulbright was in 2004.

Singleton joined the Fresno State faculty in 1998. His Bachelor of Science was awarded by MIT and his master’s and doctorates by the University of Michigan.

Dr. Vincent F. Biondo, an assistant professor of philosophy, has a Fulbright grant to l travel to the United Kingdom in spring to work at Cardiff University’s School of Religious and Theological Studies.

Biondo, whose specialty is Western religious traditions, is comparing interfaith efforts in California and Wales with research help from graduate students at Cardiff University’s Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK.

He also is co-editing a three-volume work on religion in daily life, writing on religion and economics and helping to design programs in religious and Middle East studies.

Biondo joined the Fresno State faculty in 2006. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego, a master’s from San Diego State and a doctorate from UC-Santa Barbara.

In Norway under Fulbright auspices is Dr. Kathleen Godfrey, an associate professor of English. She lectures on “California Dreaming: The Golden State, Ethnic Diversity and Contemporary American Life” as a roving scholar in upper secondary schools. The program is operated by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, in Oslo.

Godfrey joined the Fresno State faculty in 1999. She received her B.A. from Brigham Young University and her master’s and doctoral degrees from Arizona State University. She is codirector of the San Joaquin Valley Writing Project, which helps teachers developing skills to that are successful in motivating their students in writing achievement.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which works with the Council for International Exchange of Scholars to provide overseas opportunities for faculty and professionals.

The program is named for Sen. J. William Fulbright (1905-1995), D-Ark., an advocate for international education exchange programs.