At least 31 South Asians are among 1,099 U.S. Fulbright Scholars for 2004-05 announced by the State Department.

These scholars will be traveling to several countries around to world to pursue studies ranging from public health to anthropology, after being selected for the Fulbright fellowships.

In announcing the winners, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the 1,099 scholars would fan out to 110 countries this year, for some serious study and research.

They follow in the footsteps nearly 100,000 Americans who have over the past six decades received the same award, among them economist Milton Friedman, opera soprano Renee Fleming and Intel CEO Craig Barrett.

Last week, a foreign Fulbright alumnus Aaron Ciechanover received the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, becoming the sixth Fulbrighter in the past five years, and 34th overall to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program’s purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.

Several of the South Asian awardees are making their way to India.

The following is the list compiled by News India-Times and it shows the awardees’ state, their name, the host country where they will be going, the program they will be following, and the university or college where they got their degrees:

California:

* Ankur Bahl, France, Dance, Northwestern University, Illinois

* Barkha N. Gurbani, India, Public Health,

Johns Hopkins University, Maryland

* Shahram Paksina, India, Education,

Harvard Graduate School of Education

* Anand Reddi, South Africa, Biology,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

* Uma Sanghvi, Mauritius, Photography,

Ohio University

* Ritesh Shah, New Zealand, Education,

at-large California

Connecticut:

* Chintan Maru, Jamaica, Political Science,

Duke University, North Carolina

Hawaii:

* Sayeed S. Rahman, Morocco, Island

Studies, Yale University

Illinois:

* Shahan A. Mufti, India, South Asian

Studies, Middlebury College

Kansas:

* Sumit Shah, South Korea, Teaching

English as a Foreign Language, Duke

University

Massachusetts:

* Avinash Sharma, Germany, Cultural and

Intellectual History, University of Chicago

Michigan:

* Nasir Grewal, Jordan, Information

Sciences/Systems, University of Michigan

* Tanya K. Palit, Bangladesh, Economic

Development, Michigan State University

* Sanjay Thakur, Greece, Classical

Languages and literature, U. of Michigan

Minnesota:

* Deepa N. Rao, Germany, Teaching

English as Foreign Language, University

of Wisconsin

* Aajar Zaman, Bangladesh, Public Health,

Minnesota State University

Missouri:

* Sirish Kishore, Spain, Business

Management, at-large Missouri

New Jersey:

* Sanghamitra Kalita, India, South Asian

History, at-large Washington, D.C.

* Ami P. Karnik, Malaysia, East Asian

Pacific, Australia, Studies, Johns Hopkins U.

* Christina A. Mehta, Germany, Political

Science, Colby College

* Niaz Uddin, India, Film Studies, at-large

New Jersey

New York:

* Samir S. Shah, Sri Lanka, Art and

Architectural History, University of Chicago

North Carolina:

* Nishaant Choksi, India, Anthropology,

University of Chicago

Ohio:

* Veena Srinivasa, Czech Republic,

Sociology, Brown University

Oregon:

* Chitra P. Akileswaran, South Africa,

Public Health, Brown University

Pennsylvania:

* Madhury Ray, Ukraine, Public Health,

Penn State University

Texas:

* Ina Ganguli, Ukraine, Economic

Development, University of Michigan

* Tanvir Hussain, United Kingdom, Public

Health, Rice University

* Seema Shah, India, Anthropology,

Northwestern University

Virginia:

* Archana Patel, India, Women’s Studies,

Gettysberg College

Wisconsin:

* Ramana Naidu, Denmark, Public Health,

University of Wisconsin