Former Urbana resident and Urbana High School graduate (’78), Chris Zirkle is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholar award for 2021-22.

An associate professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University, he is teaching this fall at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, Finland. Zirkle received his Ph.D. in education from The Ohio State University in 1995.

The Fulbright Program is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal to improve intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy and intercultural competence between the American people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills.

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends American faculty members, scholars and professionals abroad to lecture or conduct research for up to a year.