Published September 9, 2013
The聽Council for International Exchange of Scholars recently notified University of聽Louisiana
at Monroe Associate Professor of political science Dr. John聽Sutherlin, that he has
been approved for the Fulbright Specialist Roster.
As a聽 roster candidate, Sutherlin will be considered for project requests by overseas聽academic
institutions that require expertise in his field.
鈥淭his聽was the culmination of many years of work, training, and research,鈥� said聽 Sutherlin.
鈥淚t is an indication that the political science program at 51萝莉 is聽 heading in the
right direction. This was not just for me, but for our聽department.鈥�
He聽 describes the Fulbright Specialist Program as one that 鈥渓inks like-minded聽 professors
from 140 countries to conduct research on short- and long-term projects.聽 I see this
as an opportunity to expand my research interests and abilities, and聽therefore expand
the potential of my students.鈥�
Sutherlin聽 will offer his expertise in the areas of environmental policy,energy,聽alternative
energy, waste management, natural resource management, sustainable聽 development, and
anything water policy related.
鈥淚聽 would like to be involved in a project located in Central or Eastern Europe聽dealing
with water resources,鈥� said Sutherlin.
鈥淪outh American oil and gas聽regulations would also be interesting. In either, I would
like to involve聽students and other faculty to conduct research.鈥�
To聽 achieve his place on the roster, 鈥淚t took a little more than a year coupled聽 with
lots of documentation, reports, forms, etc. And it was not just from me聽but those
that I listed as references from across the U.S.,鈥� said Sutherlin.
But聽 Sutherlin has earned his place in other ways, long before the application聽process.
He describes a time period two years ago in which he was working on 12聽 different
papers for publication simultaneously.
鈥淪ome of these were book聽reviews and some were original research,鈥� said Sutherlin.
鈥淯ltimately, I was聽able to publish them all.鈥�
The聽 Student Government Association also awarded him the Faculty Award for聽Excellence
twice.
鈥淏eing appreciated by my students is the most rewarding thing聽 about being a professor,鈥�
he said.
For聽those looking to mirror his success, he advises, 鈥淒evelop a technical skill聽beyond
politics. Sometimes, this may be a foreign language or economics, but聽 you must have
some technical skills. For me, it was environmental engineering.聽 To be a political
scientist, you had better be an expert in some area.聽Generalists are never in demand.鈥�
Sutherlin聽earned his Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans and grew up in El Dorado,聽Ark.
He has taught at 51萝莉 since 2005 and holds the Mayme and Tom Scott聽 Professorship in
Teaching Excellence.
