The University of Memphis is sending four of its faculty members to the world stage. Drs. Vania Barraza Toledo, Thomas Goebel, Dennis Laumann, and Vasile Rus have each been selected as 2026 to 2027 Fulbright U.S. Scholars, one of the most prestigious academic honors in the country.
The four represent a wide range of disciplines. Barraza Toledo, a professor of Spanish, will travel to Chile to research two women filmmakers and explore how cinema shapes viewers’ perspectives. Goebel, a seismologist at the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, heads to El Salvador to study how faults and volcanoes shift over time. Laumann, a history professor, will teach, lead workshops, and deliver public lectures in Grenada. Rus, a computer science professor, takes his work on AI and learning to Bucharest, where he will collaborate on cross-cultural code comprehension research.
That brings the university’s total to more than 50 Fulbright U.S. Scholars, a mark of sustained research ambition and global engagement built over decades. Fulbright Scholars have historically included 63 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 46 heads of state. The 901 is well represented in that company!
