Michael Wilhelm, associate provost for global partnerships and international education, received a Fulbright Specialist Program award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Wilhelm will travel to France later this month to launch his project at the ESSCA School of Management. 

“I am honored to receive a Fulbright award that will allow for the expansion of UNCW’s partnership with the ESSCA School of Managment in France,” said Wilhelm. “ESSCA has been a valued partner at the undergraduate and graduate levels for many years, and I am eager to collaborate with the international office staff and faculty there to create new pathways and engagement opportunities for both inbound and outbound students.” 

Wilhelm is one of more than 400 U.S. citizens who share their expertise with host institutions through the Fulbright Specialist program each year. Recipients of the award are selected based on academic and professional achievements, demonstrated leadership in their field and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Their projects are fully funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), along with their host institutions abroad. 

While in France, Wilhelm will work together with ESSCA–an international business school founded in 1909 that offers a variety of graduate degrees in management, marketing and finance–to implement a project designed to provide better access for underrepresented students on both campuses to education abroad opportunities. During his three-year term as a Fulbright specialist, other institutions who are interested in hosting Wilhelm for similar projects may submit proposals for review by their national Fulbright Commissions. 

“We want every student to have the opportunity to study abroad,” said Wilhelm. “Underrepresented students are less likely to have these invaluable learning and growth experiences, and we hope to help change that through this project.”  

At UNCW, Wilhelm currently oversees Education Abroad, International Student and Scholar Services and the CEA-Accredited English as a Second Language program. As the senior international officer, Wilhelm also leads campus-wide international enrollment management efforts, provides international grant support and advances international activities. He has been involved in international education at public universities for two decades and has specialized in student and scholar services, immigration policy and recruitment at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The Fulbright Specialist Award program is part of the larger Fulbright Program—the nation’s flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the federal government and designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.