J. William Fulbright was born on April 9, 1905 in Sumner, Missouri. He received his B.A. degree in Political Science (1925) from the University of Arkansas and his M.A. degree from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

He studied law at George Washington University in Washington, DC. During the 1930's, he served in the Justice Department and was an instructor at the George Washington University Law School. Between 1939-1941, Fulbright was president of the University of Arkansas, America's youngest university president at the time.

Fulbright was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and entered Congress in January 1943, becoming a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. In September 1943 the House adopted the Fulbright Resolution supporting an international peace-keeping effort encouraging United States participation in what became the United Nations. This brought national attention to Fulbright.

Serving in the U.S. Senate from 1945 through 1974, Senator Fulbright became one of the most influential and best-known members of the Senate. His legislation established the Fulbright Program in 1946. The first “Fulbrighters” went overseas in 1948 and there have been more than 250,000 Fulbright to date.

In 1949 Fulbright became a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was the longest serving chairman of the Committee in history (1959-1974). In 1954 he was the only Senator to vote against an appropriation for the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which was chaired by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. He also lodged serious objections to President Kennedy in advance of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

Fulbright was in the spotlight as a powerful voice during the war in Vietnam, when he chaired the Senate hearings on United States policy and the conduct of the war. After leaving the Senate, he was counsel to the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson and remained an active supporter of the Fulbright international exchange program.

He received numerous awards from governments, universities, and educational organizations around the world for his efforts on behalf of education and international understanding. In 1993 he was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton.

Senator J. William Fulbright died on February 9, 1995 at the age of 89 at his home in Washington, DC.

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