The Record Online
Fall 2001
GC Professor Honored with Fulbright
By Will Swanson, student writer. Reprinted
from the March 22, 2001 issue of The Papyrus, the GC Student Newspaper
 Dr.
Richard Huston, assistant professor and head of the Department
of History and Political Science at Greenville College, shared with
his classes last spring 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. 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.
The Fulbright Program is recognized as the U.S. government’s
flagship program in international educational exchange. It was proposed
to the U.S. Congress in 1945 by then freshman Senator J. William
Fulbright of Arkansas. He 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.”
Huston has been a professor at Greenville College since the fall
of 1994 and has proven a huge asset for the school over the past
seven years. In addition to the many clubs and classes he oversees,
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 commented on Huston, saying that, “Coach
Huston is easy to get along with, and always sees the best in his
players.”
Said Huston, “The Fulbright is a federally funded award, and
as such, is generously endowed and very prestigious.” However,
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. Brad Shaw was recognized for that honor in 1997.
Huston said 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.”
- “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, Huston will be lecturing once a week at the
National University in Asuncion and furthering his dissertation
research. Meanwhile, Huston’s wife and part-time lecturer in
Greek and Religion at Greenville College, Ruth, will be teaching
high school English at the Christian Academy in Asuncion.
In an interesting turn of events, the Hustons’ son, Peter,
will be attending the same missionary school Dr. Huston attended
as a missionary child so many years ago.
Last updated: November
1, 2001
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