News & Events

GC Professor Honored with Fulbright

By Will Swanson, student writer

Reprinted from the March 22, 2001 issue of The Papyrus, the Greenville College Student Newspaper

Dr. Richard Huston, assistant professor and head of the Department of History and Political Science at Greenville College, recently shared with his classes that he had just been informed of his winning the Fulbright Scholarship. According to the application he submitted, he would be spending the next year in Asuncion, Paraguay with his family. Dr. Huston went on to explain that he had spent the first 18 years of his life in Paraguay, and that he would be returning to his childhood home.

For those of you who, like me, haven't heard anything about this prestigious award before this announcement, "The Fulbright Program is recognized as the U.S. Government's flagship program in international educational exchange. It was proposed to the US Congress in 1945 by the, at the time, freshman Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. Senator Fulbright viewed the proposed program as a much-needed vehicle for promoting 'mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world.'

"The program would provide grantees and their hosts the opportunity to better comprehend the institutions, cultures and societies of other parts of the world. J. William Fulbright's vision was approved by Congress and the program was signed into law by President Truman in 1946."

Dr. Huston has been a professor at Greenville College since the fall of 1994 and has been a huge asset for this school over the past seven years. In addition to the many clubs and classes he oversees, Dr. Huston still found time to be the head coach of the Greenville College Men's Soccer team for two years. Greenville College soccer veteran Paul Donnell comments on Coach Huston, saying that, "Coach Huston is always easy to get along with, and always sees the best in his players."

Dr. Huston was gracious enough to sit down for an exclusive Papyrus interview this week to share some personal details and thoughts about winning the Fulbright --as well as his thoughts on how a Fulbright scholarship would affect his career as a college professor and master scholar. Dr. Huston started by pointing out that, "The Fulbright is a federally funded award, and as such, is generously endowed and very prestigious." However, Dr. Huston was quick to indicate that, "... the Fulbright is not only a source of personal prestige, but also of institutional prestige."

He pointed out that Greenville College has now had two recent Fulbright winners, as Dr. Bradley Shaw was recognized for that honor in 1997. Dr. Huston informed me that the Fulbright carries with it incredible "opportunities for personal, as well as institutional, enrichment."

These opportunities include:

• "The opportunity for a break after seven years of teaching at GC, as well as the renewal that comes from doing something different."
• "The opportunity to return to the place where I grew up, as well as being near dear friends is especially exciting."
• "The opportunity to extend into a subsequent period for the research done for my dissertation, which was a social and cultural history of Paraguay in the 19th century."
• "The opportunity to establish contact with Paraguayan academics, which has the potential for collaborative work."
• "A potential for looking into the possibilities for a future Greenville College center for study abroad that would be located in a Latin-American city."

While in Paraguay, Dr. Huston will be lecturing once a week at the National University in Asuncion and furthering his dissertation research. Meanwhile, Dr. Huston's wife and part-time lecturer in Greek and Religion at Greenville College, Ruth Huston, will be teaching high school English at the Christian Academy in Asuncion.

Less than a week after first hearing the news, the Huston family is already busy making preparations for the exciting transition to Asuncion. The Huston's haven't a moment to spare as their son, Peter, starts school this coming July. Of all the topics discussed in my short interview with Dr. Huston, the topic of his son's schooling most easily brought out his contagious smile. In an interesting turn of events, Peter will be attending the same missionary school Dr. Huston attended as a missionary child so many years ago.

Last updated: March 28, 2001