Dr. Sandye Jean McIntyre II and the Morgan State Fulbright Legacy

Dr. Sandye Jean McIntyre, II (Source: TheHistoryMakers.com)

While Spelman, Morehouse, Howard, and Hampton have remain have held the spotlight as the most widely praised Black colleges in the nation, Baltimore’s Morgan State University has quietly outstripped its better-known colleagues in one very impressive area, the production of Fulbright scholars.

According to the Bay State Banner, “Since the Fulbright program began in 1946, 120 Morgan students have won awards to conduct research or teach English in 30 different countries from Jamaica to New Zealand.” Over the last 14 years Morgan State has held past to its position as the HBCU that has produced the most Fulbright scholars overall (since 1946, when the Fulbright program began). Howard University and the Spelman College have consistently come in second and third in overall Fulbright awards. During the last three years, though, Spelman has held the number one spot for the top producer in a given year (for 2006, 2007, and 2008).

Much of Morgan State’s success in the Fulbright arena can be credited to the late Dr. Sandye Jean McIntyre, II. Professor McIntyre taught French at the University, from 1948 to 1988. He served as Morgan State’s Director of the Fulbright Scholars Program from 1951 until his death in 2006.

Bay State Banner reporter Kenneth Cooper describes McIntyre’s legacy:

What’s behind Morgan’s success? A robust program to identify, cultivate and guide prospective applicants that was the creation of a single individual, Sandye Jean McIntyre II.

McIntyre joined Morgan’s faculty in 1951 after going to France on a Fulbright grant, and served as the Fulbright adviser on campus for 55 years until his death in 2006. He served in that capacity longer than anyone at any college, according to the State Department, which sponsors the exchange program for graduating seniors and graduate students.

“During his historic tenure, for more than a half century, Morgan State University students received more Fulbright awards, by far, than any other historically black college or university in the nation,” Thomas Farrell, deputy assistant secretary of state for academic programs, wrote in a 2006 letter to Morgan President Earl S. Richardson.

Carleen S. Leggett, who began working with McIntyre in 1968 and succeeded him as the campus adviser, acknowledged some people are surprised to learn of Morgan’s record in spinning out Fulbrighters.

“They kind of think of Howard” because of its name recognition, she said. “For a long time, it wasn’t emphasized there. Morgan had the advantage of having someone who was so dedicated.”

Dr. McIntyre was succeeded in Morgan State’s Fulbright Program directorship by Dr. Carleen S. Leggett, who had served as associate director of the program since from 1968 until the time of McIntyre’s death.

Click HERE to read a brief obituary for Dr. Sandye Jean McIntyre, II.

Click HERE to read about some of Morgan State’s recent Fulbright scholars.

Posted by Ajuan Mance