SummerFest 2025: Celebrating Fulbright Austria’s 75th anniversary as a community

2 Juli 2025
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Fulbright Austria's annual event kicked off a yearlong celebration of the commission's founding in 1950.

Our sixth annual Fulbright Austria SummerFest was an extraordinary evening, bringing together more than 200 members of the Fulbright community in celebration of a very special milestone—our 75th anniversary. This festive occasion marked not only the closing of the 2024–25 program year but also three-quarters of a century of academic and cultural exchange, friendship, and shared values.

It was a night full of warmth, reconnection, and purpose as alums, program participants, partners, government officials, press, friends, and supporters gathered at the Wien Museum in Vienna to reflect on Fulbright Austria’s legacy and to help ensure the commission’s future. During the 2025 SummerFest, guests enjoyed delicious catering, visual and audio installations, a panel discussion with current and former program participants, meaningful conversations, and the chance to win one of 28 raffle prizes generously donated by Fulbright Austria alums, partners, and friends—a true reflection of the excellence and creativity of our global Fulbright community.

Thanks to our community’s incredible generosity, we were able to raise funds in support of Fulbright Austria’s programs, including contributions to our Fulbright Austria Opportunity Fund and Artsraising Initiative.

Unveiling ceremony

Additionally, the event gave us an opportunity to sign two new agreements with new partners, officially launching two new awards: the Fulbright-Academy of Fine Arts Vienna Visiting Professor award, which sees Fulbright partnering with both the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the Vienna University of Economics and Business on an award open to fields related to arts management and arts/culture economics, and the Fulbright-TU Wien Visiting Professor award, for which Fulbright Austria and TU Wien will be looking for candidates in the fields of architecture and planning, various types of engineering, mathematics, physics, technical chemistry, and other fields. Both grants will be available starting in the 2027–28 program year, and we look forward to launching the application cycle with our new partners in 2026!

© Alina Diesner

A fundraising raffle

Special thanks go out to our very generous and engaged raffle donors for the community-building gifts and vouchers they provided:
 

  • 1x “Bring some green into your space:” a house plant from Burneo Gartendesign
  • 1x “Share a special dinner for two or more in Vienna at Waldviertlerhof” from 1984–86 US teaching assistant B.T. Gibbs
  • 1x “Find your sound:” piano and voice lessons from Fulbright Austria friend and 2019–20 Fulbright Belgium student N. Matthys
  • 1x “Let Austria’s great composers inspire you:” a curated selection of CDs from 1974–75 Austrian Fulbright student C. Raschauer-Andrecs
  • 1x “Step out in Viennese style:” a Mühlbauer hat from 2008–10 US teaching assistant M. Sims
  • 1x “Dance the night away:” waltz lessons in Vienna from 2009–10 Austrian Fulbright student R. Gabler-Schachermayr
  • 1x “A night at the Volksoper awaits you:” a ticket for a show from 2012–13 US Fulbright scholar P. Höyng
  • 1x “Let stories inspire your next adventure:” a copy of AustroBob: Österreichische Aneignungen von Bob Dylans Poesie und Musik from 2003–04 Austrian Fulbright FLTA A. Ganser
  • 2x “Raise a glass to Austrian wines and friendship:” a handpicked selection of Austrian wines from 1975–76 Austrian Fulbright student E. Sterbenz
  • 1x “Farm-to-table cooking experience with chef Emmy Meier” from E. Meier, friend of Fulbright
  • 1x “Suburbia Revisited:” two tickets to a provocative exhibit at Architekturzentrum Wien from 1985–86 Austrian Fulbright student K. Gerlich
  • 5x “Masterpieces and modern visions:” two tickets to the paintings gallery at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, a partner of Fulbright Austria
  • 1x “Contemporary Austria on your wall:” two original artworks by Vienna-based Styrian artists from 2003–04 Austrian Fulbright FLTA A. Ganser
  • 1x “Timeless elegance:” a mid-century modern wood & metal bowl from 1951–52 Austrian Fulbright student L. Knoll
  • 1x “Viennese sophistication:” an Augarten porcelain set from 1951–52 Austrian Fulbright student E. Rupp
  • 1x “The Alps in your pocket:” an Innsbruck 48h cardfrom the Fulbright Austria team
  • 1x “Voices for equity:” two insightful books on diversity and gender in higher education from 2006–07 US Fulbright scholar and 2025 Alum Advisory Panel member M.A. Danowitz
  • 2x “Discover talents you didn’t know you had:” a copy of Your Hidden Genius” from 2011–12 US teaching assistant A. Ellison
  • 1x “Insider’s Vienna:” a private guided tour from 1984–85 Austrian Fulbright student E. Kandler
  • 1x “Finding home again:” three coaching sessions to ease homesickness from 1989–90 Austrian Fulbright student I. Wodenitscharow-Droesler
  • 1x “A story close to the heart:” book signed by the author from 2024–25 US Fulbright scholar A. Beisaw
  • 1x “Deep dives & dialogues:” ifk book series + translations collection from J. Boog-Kaminski, deputy administrative director, senior scientist, and Fulbright Program head at ifk, a partner of Fulbright Austria
  • 1x “Step into the mind of Freud:” exclusive Sigmund Freud Museum tour from P. Nömaier, business director at the Sigmund Freud Museum, a partner of Fulbright Austria

Community members giving back

Additionally, a heartfelt thank-you goes out to our generous and dedicated volunteers, who helped create a space for new shared memories:

  • 2022–23 US Fulbright combined grantee B. Fernandez
  • 1984–86 US teaching assistant B. Gibbs
  • 2020–21 US Fulbright scholar C. Hayes
  • 2021–22 Austrian Fulbright FLTA C. Harold
  • 2009–11 US teaching assistant S. Richards

We’d also like to express our gratitude to the community members who participated in the panel discussion:

  • Moderator Ulrike Butschek, 1993–94 Austrian Fulbright student and current president of the Austrian Fulbright Alumni association
  • Panelist Alexandra Efstathiades, 2019–20 Austrian Fulbright FLTA
  • Panelist Jeffrey Engel, 2024–25 US Fulbright scholar
  • Panelist Anjolina Horzynek, 2024–25 US Fulbright combined grantee
  • Panelist Carmen Lagler, 2020–23 Austrian Fulbright student

We’re also grateful to the representatives of the 2025 Alumni Advisory Panel and the artists whose contributions made our visual and sound installations both meaningful and personal.

An evening full of memories

We are deeply grateful to all who attended and contributed to our event—and continuously support our mission. Special thanks go out to each of our generous raffle donors and the broader Fulbright Austria community for making this 75th-anniversary SummerFest an unforgettable one.

Here’s to 75 years of exchange, dialogue, and impact—and to many more ahead!

Fulbright Austria captured the excitement and energy of the evening with a video and photo album (see below) as well as a press release (in German) published on the Austria Press Agency’s website.

If you too would like to donate to help us continue creating meaningful experiences, please use the button below. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s SummerFest!

 

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