Excellence
We seek and support the most promising minds, holding every program to the highest academic and professional standards.
About the Commission
Cultivating mutual understanding between Egypt and the United States through educational exchange since 1949 — one Fulbrighter at a time.
Where it began
The Fulbright legacy
Senator J. William Fulbright (1905–1995), founder of the Fulbright Program.
The Fulbright Program owes its existence to one statesman's conviction that nations learn peace by learning one another. Senator J. William Fulbright was born in Sumner, Missouri, in 1905 and raised in Arkansas. He studied at the University of Arkansas and later read at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, an experience abroad that shaped his lifelong belief in the power of international exchange.
Elected to the United States Senate in 1945, Fulbright served until 1974 and chaired the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1959 to 1974 — one of the longest tenures in the committee's history. In 1946 he sponsored the legislation that established the Fulbright Program, using proceeds from the sale of surplus war property to fund the international exchange of students, scholars and teachers. The first participants travelled in 1948.
Since then, the program has grown into the U.S. government's flagship educational exchange — producing more than 310,000 Fulbrighters worldwide, including heads of state, Nobel laureates and leaders across every field.
Our mandate
The oldest & largest in the Arab world
The Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt (BFCE) was established in 1949, making it the oldest and largest Fulbright program in the Arab world. It was created by a protocol between the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State — a binational compact that both governments continue to renew.
The Commission is governed by a binational board of eight directors: four Egyptian and four American. This shared stewardship ensures that the program reflects the priorities of both nations and remains a true partnership rather than a one-way exchange.
Since 1949, the Commission has exchanged nearly 8,000 Egyptian and American scholars, students, teachers and professionals. Each grant advances a single, enduring mandate: to cultivate mutual understanding between the peoples of Egypt and the United States — one Fulbrighter at a time.
Of all the joint ventures in which we might engage, the most productive, in my view, is educational exchange. … It can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations.
— Senator J. William Fulbright, founder of the Fulbright Program
What guides us
Our core values
Six principles shape how the Commission serves its Fulbrighters and its two nations.
Collaboration
As a binational partnership, we accomplish more together — between governments, institutions and people.
Empathy
Understanding begins with listening. We meet our applicants and alumni as individuals with their own stories.
Commitment
For more than seven decades we have kept faith with our mission, through every season of the relationship between our nations.
Integrity
We administer public trust transparently and fairly, with merit-based selection at the heart of every decision.
Development
We invest in people so they may return to lift their communities, institutions and country.
Our people
The team behind the mission
A dedicated binational staff guides every grantee from application through return — supported by the Commission's board of directors.
Management
Dr. Maggie N. Nassif
Executive Director
Ms. Ranya Rashed
Deputy Director
Mr. Asser Hany
Operations Manager
Ms. Manal Faress
Assistant Operations Manager
Programs
Mr. Ramez Girgis
Senior Operations Officer
Ms. Noha Salah
Program Officer
Ms. Mai Ayyad
Program Officer
Ms. Salma Amgad
Program Officer
Ms. Mary Ateyya
Program Officer
Ms. Maria Emad
Program Coordinator
Ms. Eman Abdelhady
Program Coordinator
Mr. Karim Guirguis
Program Coordinator
Finance
Mr. Ashraf Ismail
Finance Manager
Mr. Hisham Farid
Senior Accountant
Mr. Raafat Fayez
Accountant
Mr. Kamel Matta
Accountant
Administration & IT
Mr. Khaled Selim
Administration Manager
Mr. Ruben Harutunian
IT & Systems Officer
Mr. Arafa Ismail
Administrative Officer
Dr. Ahmed Abdel Ghani Morsi
Advisory Officer
Support & U.S. Liaison
Ms. Emma Marwood
U.S. Program Liaison
Mr. Sean Jones
U.S. Program Liaison
Members of the Board
Binational board of directors
The Commission is governed by eight directors — four Egyptian and four American — who set policy and uphold the binational partnership.
Dr. Mostafa Rifat
Egyptian Director
Dr. Ayman Farid
Egyptian Director
Dr. Ayman Ashour
Egyptian Director
Mr. Raymond R. Miller
American Director
اقرأ المزيد عن فولبرايت مصر بالعربية / Read more about Fulbright Egypt in Arabic
Download the Arabic about-BFCE brochure (PDF) →
Download the Arabic about-BFCE brochure (PDF) →