UB Sociologist Sampson Lee Blair Awarded 2010-11 Fulbright Scholar Grant

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sampson Lee Blair, PhD, of Williamsville, associate professor of sociology at the University at Buffalo, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and conduct research at Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan) on the island of Mindanao, the Philippines, during the 2010-11 academic year.

Blair is a sociologist who specializes in family and child development and during his fellowship year will conduct research on the relationship between Filipino parental involvement and children's educational performance.

A popular professor at UB, Blair is the former director of undergraduate studies in the UB Sociology Department, and currently chairs the American Sociological Association's Section on Children and Youth.

His research on family issues (most recently, risky adolescent behavior) is widely published and he has served as associate editor of several major sociological journals, among them Social Justice Research, Sociological Inquiry, the Journal of Family Issues, and Marriage and Family Review.

The Fulbright Program, America's flagship international educational exchange program, was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, and 1,100 U.S. faculty members and professionals received fellowships through its Foreign Scholarship Program this year, as more than 296,000 scholars from 155 countries have done since it was established.

The program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, operates in more than 155 countries. Since its inception, the program has provided nearly 300,000 individuals from the U.S. and abroad the opportunity observe one another's political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and to embark upon joint ventures of mutual interest.

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars and recipients are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.