The Institute of International Education (IIE) is pleased to announce the opening of the IIE Centennial Fellowship Program. The IIE Centennial Fellowship is an annual fellowship program that was launched in 2019 in honor of IIE’s Centennial and our association with the Fulbright Program. To commemorate the Institute’s centennial anniversary in 2019, private donors made leadership gifts to the Institute’s Fulbright Legacy Fund to create the IIE Centennial Fellowship. The Fellowship seeks to help enhance Fulbright as a life-long experience and recognize Fulbright alumni whose work embodies the underlying Fulbright values of mutual understanding, leadership, global problem solving, and global impact.

The 2026 IIE Centennial Fellowship will continue to advance the values of mutual understanding, leadership, and global impact that have long defined the Fulbright Program. Established in 2019 in celebration of IIE’s Centennial, the Fellowship honors IIE’s long partnership with the Fulbright Program—sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs—and is open to alumni of the Fulbright Student and Scholar Programs.

Now in its seventh year, the Fellowship will align with the 2026 theme: Advancing Responsible AI – From Framework to Deployment.

The theme explores the full lifecycle of responsible artificial intelligence, focusing on how principles such as transparency, accountability, safety, and economic security can be embedded from early design through system deployment to real-world commercialization. This theme emphasizes how responsible AI practices can evolve into scalable, impactful technologies that are technically sound, socially aligned, and supportive of long-term global stability. Fellows will examine how to ensure AI systems enhance, not undermine – human well-being, democratic values, and economic growth.

Key focus areas include:

• Designing practical frameworks that integrate responsible AI principles from the outset.
• Developing deployment strategies that maintain system integrity and trust at scale.
• Translating responsible AI into commercially viable solutions without compromising ethical standards.
• Identifying sustainable business models that support responsible innovation and advance economic security.
• Addressing challenges in monitoring, updating, and governing AI post-deployment, including mitigating risk to labor markets and public institutions.

Up to four Fulbright alumni will be selected as IIE Centennial Fellows to receive awards of up to $25,000 for ongoing or planned projects that advance responsible AI. Projects must be action-oriented, solutions-focused, and designed to produce measurable outcomes.

Additionally, one Fulbright alumnus/a will be selected for the IIE New Leader Award, which recognizes alumni who completed their Fulbright program in the past five years (2021–2025). The proposed project must already be underway and aligned with the 2026 Responsible AI theme. The New Leader Award recipient will receive up to $15,000.

IIE Centennial Fellowships and the IIE New Leader Award will fund projects for up to one year. Candidates may work or study in any field and do not need to have an institutional affiliation.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). 

  Application Open: January 14, 2026

  Application Close: February 4, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET

  Award Notifications: May/June 2026