At the Institute of International Education's Gala on September 28 at New York’s Pierre Hotel, more than 250 business, education, government, foundation and policy leaders joined IIE to recognize Qualcomm Incorporated for its role in helping women and girls enter and succeed in technology careers, and to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Fulbright Program. The guests also heard a moving testimony from a Syrian student on the critical need to keep students and scholars from countries in crisis in higher education. Qualcomm Chief Executive Officer Steve Mollenkopf accepted IIE’s Opening Minds Corporate Leadership Award on behalf of his company in recognition of its leading role in the Women Enhancing Technology (WeTech) initiative, which IIE launched in 2013.

In celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Fulbright Program, IIE presented seven notable Fulbright Alumni with the IIE Global Changemaker Award to highlight the impact of the individuals and the program throughout its history. The awards recognized alumni who came from or went to Germany, Greece, India, Jordan, Madagascar, Mexico, and New Zealand as students or professors over the seven decades of the program.

Sana Mustafa, a Syrian student who came to the United States to complete her university degree with a scholarship from Bard College through the IIE Syria Consortium for Higher Education in Crisis and received an IIE Emergency Student Fund grant, spoke passionately about the urgent need to help students and scholars who are displaced by violence in their home countries. IIE’s history of providing emergency assistance to students and scholars facing threats and danger spans nearly 100 years.