Students, faculty, and staff from the Rutgers School of Public Health recently returned from a deeply enriching study abroad experience in Manizales, Colombia. The experience provided students with an immersive opportunity to directly engage with community-based organizations, public health agencies, researchers, educators, and community leaders dedicated to addressing health inequities in Latin American communities.

Led by Rafael E. Pérez-Figueroa, Associate Dean for Community Engagement, Population Health, and Public Health Service and associate professor in Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Urban-Global Public Health, the study abroad course Health Inequities in Latin American Communities was hosted in collaboration with the Universidad Autónoma de Manizales (UAM).

As part of Rutgers University’s growing Korea–US engagement strategy in the biomedical and health sciences, Rutgers Global and Rutgers Health co-hosted a Symposium on Korea–US R&D Collaborations and Funding Opportunities on Thursday, June 19, at Richard Weeks Hall on the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus. The symposium was the culmination of several collaborative events between Rutgers and K-BioX, a global bio-health innovation platform that connects Korean and international institutions to advance research partnerships.

The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced that Karen Wei-Ru Lin, M.D., of the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has received a Fulbright Specialist Program award. Dr. Lin will complete a project at Kobe University in Japan that aims to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both in the U.S. and overseas through a variety of educational and training activities within Public/Global Health. 

A record 20 students across Rutgers University have been awarded the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which empowers students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad, fostering mutual understanding between the United States and other countries. 

This milestone highlights Rutgers’ growing commitment to global education and access for all students, especially those traditionally underrepresented in study abroad programs.

When Illia Kholiavin fled his war-torn Ukrainian hometown of Mariupol in 2022, he left behind the only life he’d ever known. After relocating first to Poland and then Sparta, N.J., with his mother and grandmother, he committed himself to learning English and finishing school. “What we experienced was brutal. It changed something in us,” he said. “You really understand that life is not infinite. You need to do something in your life before it ends.” On May 16, Kholiavin was inducted into Rutgers University’s prestigious Matthew Leydt Society along with 234 of his peers who ranked in the top 2% of Rutgers University-New Brunswick's and Rutgers Health's graduating Class of 2025.

Rutgers delegation fostered academic alliances and strengthened alumni engagement during March visit

In a major step to bolster its global visibility, an institution-wide delegation from Rutgers University visited India in March 2025. The visit marked a strategic push to deepen Rutgers’ engagement with India’s vibrant academic and innovation ecosystem through the exploration of new partnerships, research initiatives, and student mobility programs.

Cuba may not be a Spring Break hotspot—particularly given that Americans are prohibited from visiting the island solely for tourism. But for a group of Rutgers Law School students, Cuba turned out to be a truly unique and educational Spring Break destination, made possible through a travel course designed to expose students to Cuban law, history, and society through firsthand encounters with local attorneys, activists, students, and community members. The course is taught each year by Rutgers Law Clinical Professor Charles Auffant. Check out this video with highlights from the trip.

Rutgers Vice President for Global Affairs honored for his contributions to global science and African scholarship

Rutgers University’s Vice President for Global Affairs, Dr. Eric (Rick) Garfunkel, has been elected as a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), joining an elite group of eighty-eight distinguished scientists and scholars (16 from beyond the continent) recognized for their exceptional contributions to scientific advancement and scholarship.

After nearly two decades, Rutgers University proudly welcomed back alumni Professor Euichul “Charles” Jung for a heartfelt reunion with faculty, students, and the Korean community at the School of Communication and Information. Now serving as director of library services and professor of media studies at Sangji University in South Korea, Professor Jung's return underscored the enduring bonds within the Rutgers global network.

Rutgers University–New Brunswick has earned recognition as a top producer of Fulbright U.S. Scholars by the U.S. Department of State, securing its place among the nation’s elite institutions for faculty and administrators selected for the program.

Six scholars from Rutgers–New Brunswick have been awarded Fulbright grants for the 2024-2025 academic year for a range of projects throughout the world, as announced by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs on February 25.

A panel comprised of alumni from the 2024 Rutgers Mandela Washington Fellowship Program presented at the 12th International Conference of the African Materials Research Society (AMRS) in Kigali, Rwanda in December. The panel discussion, titled “Tech Entrepreneurship in Practice” included Highness Mtemah from Zimbabwe, Douglas Remhunga from Zimbabwe, and Rivaldo Costa from Angola, and was moderated by Akpene Hoggar from Carnegie Mellon University–Africa.

Pamela McElwee, professor in the Department of Human Ecology, represented Rutgers University at the UN’s 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) in Cali, Colombia.