PENANG, June 2016 – Gustavus Adolphus College, the United States physics professor, Steve Mellema has been selected through the Fulbright Scholar Program to come to Malaysia in 2017 to teach and do research at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

The upcoming voyage marks a return to the country that Mellema first visited in 1972 as a recent Gustavus graduate and Peace Corps volunteer.

“Malaysia has become my second home and the country sits at the confluence of so many good things in my life,” Mellema said who since then had come back to Malaysia on numerous occasions and travelled extensively throughout the country.

Mellema spearheaded the Gustavus’ Semester in Malaysia study-away program and led students on its inaugural trip in 2014. The semester-long program, titled “Living Diversity,” exposed students to the rich cultural, ethnic, and ecological diversity of the country.

Furthermore, he was also instrumental in creating a student exchange agreement between Gustavus and USM, a partnership that has existed since 1994.

“Malaysia is a place where people from different ethnic backgrounds, cultures, languages and religions live together and form a peaceful, stable society and the resulting intercultural and interreligious factors make it a great place for our students to learn,” he explained.

During the 2017 Fulbright programme, Mellema will be attached to the USM School of Physics where he will work with its faculty members to conduct research and introduce active learning practices that are used to teach physics at Gustavus and in the United States.

“I look forward to returning to Penang, where I have built a network of friends, hosts, and colleagues in the School of Physics and across the university.

“Everyone at USM is dedicated and hardworking and we are all genuinely interested in doing the best job we can to teach physics,” he said.

He added that this Fulbright award will allow him to give back to the people who have given him so much over the years.

Mellema, who also won a Fulbright award in 2002, will serve as one of approximately 1,200 Fulbright scholars who contribute to education across the globe through innovation, creativity, and knowledge that transcends borders.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is sponsored by the United States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Original Source: Gustavus Adolphus College (website)

https://news.blog.gustavus.edu/2016/06/17/physics-professor-steve-mellema-72-to-serve-as-fulbright-scholar-in-malaysia/
Posted on June 17^th, 2016 by JJ Akin ‘11

Rewritten with permission by: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah (USM)