Utica University's Dr. Luke Perry Honored as Fulbright Distinguished U.S. Scholar

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Utica University's Dr. Luke Perry Honored as Fulbright Distinguished U.S. Scholar

Luke Perrry at a lectern in the classroom.

"The focus will be my recent book, which I’m particularly excited about. Five of my Political Science students were research assistants and three students coauthored chapters with me."

Dr. Luke Perry, distinguished professor of political science at Utica University, has been selected by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board as a Fulbright Scholar for the 2025-2026 academic year. He will spend the fall semester teaching in Budapest, Hungary as the Fulbright Laszlo Orszagh Distinguished Scholar in American Studies.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is the flagship international education exchange program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Fulbright Scholar Awards are highly competitive fellowships that afford U.S. academics unique opportunities to travel abroad – and international scholars to come to the U.S. – to teach, conduct research, or do both, playing a critical role in U.S. public diplomacy.

For Perry, receiving a Distinguished Fulbright is not only a tremendous honor, but also has significant meaning across various aspects of his career, both personal and professional.

“I’m someone who’s drawn to service and feels very fortunate to be in the position that I am,” he says. “The Fulbright Program is a wonderful opportunity to help share insights about America with people across the globe and be an ambassador, essentially, of the U.S. government in trying to further knowledge and understanding of who we are and how we interact with the rest of the world.”

“I consider myself very lucky,” he continues. “My grandparents weren’t able to graduate high school. They had to work during the Great Depression. I was the first person in my family to earn a Ph.D., so I’m always trying to serve in any way I can. I’m very excited about this opportunity and sharing what I learn interacting with European students and faculty with my Political Science students and the Utica community.”

This Fulbright Award is Perry’s second, however, this is his first Distinguished Fulbright Scholarship, which is widely considered the most prestigious Fulbright appointment. Through this fellowship, he will be living in Budapest this fall and teaching at Eötvös Loránd University and Pázmány Péter Catholic University.

Perry, who taught at Vilnius University in Lithuania during the 2011-2012 academic year on his first Fulbright, will teach a course on American society and culture as well as a course on politics and religion, which touches on his research in American politics.

While abroad, Perry has been invited to guest lecture at other universities in England, Ireland, Portugal, and Bulgaria. The focus of which will be his forthcoming book, The 2024 Presidential Election: Key Issues and Regional Dynamics (Palgrave, 2025), a project in which the students in his Political Science 212: U.S. Political Parties and Elections course at Utica played a significant role.

“One of the great opportunities that comes with this Fulbright Award is that I get to guest lecture throughout Europe in a variety of different countries. The focus will be my recent book, which I’m particularly excited about. Five of my Political Science students were research assistants and three students coauthored chapters with me,” he says. “This was a great learning experience for them and this Fulbright provides a wonderful opportunity to share our work with other students and faculty throughout Europe.”

For more information about Utica University’s Political Science program, visit: utica.edu/academics/programs/ political-science.

Perry is a past recipient of Utica University’s Harold T. Clark Jr. Award for exemplary scholarship. His research focuses on democracy, particularly U.S. elections. He is the founder and director of the Utica University Center of Public Affairs and Election Research in 2018, is the author of six books, and routinely shares his expertise for local and national media outlets, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, PBS, andPolitico. A devoted teacher-scholar who prioritizes experiential learning, he has taken students throughout the country and the world, including serving as floor correspondents at national party conventions and attending trials at the International Criminal Court.

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 talented and accomplished academics, artists, and professionals with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Notable Fulbright recipients include 62 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 82 MacArthur Fellows, 44 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

More than 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually. In the United States, the Institute of International Education implements the program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit fulbrightprogram.org.