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Originally published on July 24, 2020
Schar School of Policy and Government Professor of Public Policy Hilton Root has received the honor of Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Social Sciences (China) for the study of the political economy of American and Chinese relations.
Root is one of only 800 Americans for all disciplines selected by the Fulbright Program who will teach and conduct research abroad during the 2020-21 academic year. Only about 40 of those 800 are selected as Distinguished Chairs.
“As holder of the Distinguished Chair in the Social Sciences I will be working with students on both sides of the Pacific to identify options to reset the U.S.-China relationship,” Root said. “We will be conducting research on how to move the U.S.-China relationship from confrontation to productive cooperation, examining the prospects for managed competition in issues ranging from trade and security to health and climate change.”
Root will be hosted by the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, where he will direct post-graduate research on the political economy between the United States and China.
Root’s most recent book, Network Origins of the Global Economy (Cambridge University Press), deals with similar issues that he will be addressing during the Fulbright Program, such as the deviation between Chinese governance and the Western experience, and considering the respective economies as complex networks.
The Fulbright Program, funded by the Department of State, is the United States’ flagship program for international educational exchange. Fulbright scholars are selected based on criteria regarding their academic and professional achievements, their service to others, and leadership in their field.
The Fulbright Program was created in 1946 to allow Americans of all backgrounds the opportunity to teach and research in other countries, and to further American interests abroad. More than 390,000 students have participated in the program since then, and many have won Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes, or served as heads of state. If you are interested in applying to the Fulbright Program, please visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright and visit Mason’s Honors College page for Fulbright Programs at https://honorscollege.gmu.edu/academics/fellowships/find-fellowship.