Mary Kirk

Mary E. Kirk is the Institute's Vice President for Student Exchanges. Ms. Kirk is based at IIE's headquarters in New York. She directs IIE's administration of the Fulbright Program for U.S. and Foreign Students and oversees several other educational exchange programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, including the Ron Brown Fellowships Program, the Vietnam Fulbright Student Program and the Benjamin Gilman Scholarships Program. She also oversees the Offices of the Fulbright Representatives in Russia and Ukraine.

Prior to her appointment in 2002, Ms. Kirk served as the Executive Director of the Fulbright and Academic Services Division. Previously, from 1992-1995, she was the Institute's Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Eurasia after leading efforts to establish IIE's representative offices in Budapest and Moscow. As director of the East Central Europe Information Exchange, funded by the Ford Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, she published two reports, Where Walls Once Stood: U.S. Responses to New Opportunities for Academic Cooperation with East Central Europe and Continental Responsibility: European and International Support for Higher Education and Research in East Central Europe. Prior to joining IIE in 1989, she served as a program officer for Soviet Union Exchanges with the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).

Ms. Kirk holds degrees in History from Harvard University and Oxford University (Somerville College) and has advanced training in Russian. She has also studied French, German and Hungarian. In addition to being an active member in professional organizations, she serves on the National Council of Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, New York.