A psychology professor at Eastern Kentucky University has received a prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award to help a Czech university develop a doctoral-level curriculum in industrial and organizational psychology.

Dr. Laura Koppes will spend the first five months of 2004 at the University of Hradec Kralove.

Koppes is one of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 140 countries in 2003-04 as part of the Fulbright Scholar Program. Recipients of the awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields.

"I'm excited to be able to share our knowledge and assist them with their curriculum," Koppes said. "I'm also looking forward to having an opportunity to learn what they know and learn more about their culture.

"I'll be able to integrate this experience into my teaching," she added. "It's critical that all my students, particularly my graduate students, have an understanding of cultural diversity."

After arriving at EKU in 1999, Koppes established the University's graduate program in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She also has been active in the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, serving the past two years as chair of the national group's Education and Training Committee.

At Eastern, Koppes has served on the Faculty Senate, directed the Governor's Scholars Program on the Richmond campus and currently chairs the University's Strategic Planning Committee.

The Fulbright Program, established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, strives to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.

America's flagship international educational exchange activity is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Through its 57-year history, thousands of U.S. faculty and professionals have studied, taught or done research abroad, and thousands of their counterparts from other countries have engaged in similar activities in the U.S.