LARY MACDONALD, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARJIS PROGRAM AND COLLEGE DOCTORAL STUDENT, IS RECIPIENT OF 2004-05 FULBRIGHT STUDENT GRANT

COLLEGE PARK, MD (September 2004) — Lary MacDonald, associate director of the MARJiS program in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership and College of Education doctoral student, has been awarded a 2004-2005 Fulbright Student Grant for his proposal, entitled "Education Reform in Japan: Local Identity in a Global Age."

MacDonald is already in Japan conducting fieldwork in Osaka and Tokyo, MacDonald will examine recent educational reforms and decentralizing efforts aimed to give teachers more autonomy within the context of growing social and educational diversity in Japan.

Under the guidance of his faculty advisor, Professor Barbara Finkelstein, MacDonald is pursuing a Ph.D. in the International Education Policy Program in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership. He has also been involved in international education efforts at the International Center for Transcultural Education, serving as the Associate Director of MARJiS (Mid-Atlantic Region Japan-in-the-Schools) for the past six years.

Before joining the university, MacDonald has previously worked for six years in Japan as an educator and educational administrator.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the United States Government, was established in 1946. Since its conception, 255,000 individuals have participated in this international education program. According to the State Department’s Web site, the Fulbright Program is designed to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries..."

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