The Bulgarian Fulbright Commission is delighted to announce the appointment of Ms. Angela Rodel as the next Executive Director of the Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange, or Bulgarian Fulbright Commission.
Ms. Rodel was appointed to the role of Executive Director after a thorough process that attracted a large number of qualified candidates. Ms. Rodel is a two-time Fulbright Scholar, who first came to Bulgaria in 1996 to study language and folk music at Sofia University. Her studies gave her a solid grasp of Bulgarian language and culture, an experience which deeply informed her graduate studies in linguistics and ethnomusicology in the United States. In 2004, Ms. Rodel received a Fulbright-Hays fellowship to study Bulgarian folk music at the Academy of Music, Dance and Visual Arts in Plovdiv. She is deeply connected with the Bulgarian folk music community and has connections with several well-known Bulgarian folk music groups. Ms. Rodel is also a professional literary translator. Her translations of Milen Ruskov’s novel Thrown into Nature (2011), Zachary Karabashliev’s 18% Gray (2013) and Angel Igov’s A Short Tale of Shame (2013) have been published by Open Letter Books. Her poetry and prose translations have also appeared in literary magazines and anthologies, including McSweeney’s, Little Star, Granta.org, Two Lines, and Words Without Borders, among others.
She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to serve as an ambassador of American culture in Bulgaria, as well as of Bulgarian culture in the U.S.
Ms. Rodel will replace Dr. Julia Stefanova, who is stepping down after 22 years as Executive Director of the program. During her tenure, Ms. Stefanova oversaw a period of significant growth and improvement that helped the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission maintain the highest standards of excellence that the Fulbright name has come to represent.
Ms. Rodel will begin her term as Executive Director on March 10, 2015.
The Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange (Bulgarian Fulbright Commission) was officially inaugurated on February 9, 1993, under a ten-year bilateral agreement between the Governments of the United States and the Republic of Bulgaria. On December 3, 2003, a new bilateral agreement was signed between the Governments of the United States and the Republic of Bulgaria establishing the Fulbright Commission in perpetuity. The Commission consists of ten members, five of whom are American citizens and five are citizens of Bulgaria. They represent the major areas of state and public activity: government, education and business. The Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Bulgaria and the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria serve as honorary chairpersons of the Commission. The Commission staff consists of two program officers, financial officer and cashier, administrative secretary, educational adviser, coordinator of the language-training center in Sofia and coordinators of local info centers.
For more information on the Fulbright program in Bulgaria please visit www.fulbright.bg.
