On December 11, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryan administered the oath of office to new member Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich, who joins the 12-member J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to oversee the worldwide Fulbright Program.

Jeffrey Bleich is a lawyer, diplomat, and educator. He is a partner in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, where he leads the firm’s international practice, focused on cross-border disputes, trade, and high-stakes litigation. Bleich previously served in the White House as special counsel to President Obama in 2009, and was president of the California State Bar Association from 2007 to 2008. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Australia. Bleich holds a B.A. magna cum laude from Amherst College, an M.P.P from Harvard University, a J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law, and honorary doctorates from San Francisco State University and Flinders University, in Australia. President Obama appointed him to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board in November 2014.

The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 360,000 participants from more than 180 countries with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Contact: Catherine Stearns, StearnsCL@state.gov, 202-431-1594 or ECA Press, ECA-Press@state.gov, 202-632-6445