By Jennifer Mullen

With a teaching trip to Zaporozhye State Engineering Academy in the Ukraine this past summer, Berhanu Mengistu, professor of urban studies and public administration and graduate program director for the doctoral program in urban studies, tied the record at Old Dominion University for the most Fulbright awards among active faculty.

The June trip was Mengistu’s third to a foreign country as part of the prestigious program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Lytton Musselman, eminent scholar of biological sciences, has also earned three Fulbright awards, and Sharon Raver-Lampman, professor of special education, embarks on her third Fulbright trip in January.

“I’m an ambassador without the political obligations,” Mengistu said in describing his approach to the opportunity to teach and study abroad.

In addition to the Ukraine, Mengistu taught and studied development issues, finance and public budgeting at Addis Ababa University in his native Ethiopia in 2002. Both trips were under Fulbright Senior Specialists Grants, a new short-term grant program.

In 1997, he taught at the University of the Western Cape and worked with the South African government on a budget framework under a traditional, yearlong Fulbright grant.

“It’s one of the best things America has to offer. We have so much expertise in this country and lots to share,” said Mengistu.

During his six-week trip to the Ukraine, Mengistu taught numerous topics, including conflict resolution, public law and administration, strategic management, ethics of business relationships and English.

“The students had so many questions, they wanted to know so much about America – the culture, the life, economics, religion, everything. I was a professor of everything.”

But, Mengistu noted, he gains as much from these experiences as he gives.

“In the classroom at Old Dominion, I draw heavily from my experiences and use them to demonstrate concepts for students. Comparative analysis and perspective is good, especially when teaching government.”

And, of course, he also benefits by getting the chance to explore different countries and cultures.
“When I was in my Ph.D. program, I was interested in city planning and how arranging space can make life better.

“In the town of Zaporozhye, it was really beautiful. It is so interesting the way parks are integrated into the living space, the way they design roads and how the sidewalks are wide and clean so that people can walk, shop and talk. It is a city made friendly to human beings, not automobiles.”

Mengistu, who has been an ODU faculty member since 1985, said he plans to pursue more Fulbright awards in the future.

By traveling abroad and being a representative of the United States, “I can pay back the good things America has done for me.”