Release

UAlbany President Named to Board of International Student Exchange Program

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

	Kermit L. Hall

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 5, 2005) -- University at Albany President Kermit L. Hall has been named to the board of directors for the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). Established in 1979 under authority of the Fulbright-Hays Act, ISEP facilitates the internationalization of colleges and universities across the country to offer affordable access to study abroad. The program is administered by a central office in Washington, D.C., and by the designated coordinator at each member institution. ISEP was incorporated as an independent nonprofit organization in 1997. To date, nearly 25,000 students have participated in ISEP programs.

�Dr. Hall has been a strong supporter of ISEP and its work in international exchange and study abroad for many years, and he will be a great asset to the ISEP board,� said Mary Anne Grant, president of ISEP.

President George M. Dennison of the University of Montana, who serves as chair of the board, observed that President Hall brings a vast range of experience and deep commitment to the board. �We feel that Kermit has the potential to help in myriad ways as we continue to develop ISEP as one of the premier student exchange and international education programs in the world,� said Dennison.

�One of the most important challenges facing American higher education is bringing the world to our students and our students to the world. The International Student Exchange Program is the premiere international study abroad program for doing just that,� said Hall. �It is an honor to have been appointed, and, I am very much looking forward to serving.� Hall will serve on the board beginning in April, and his term runs for three years.

ISEP is designed so that students exchanged throughout the ISEP network pay all of their fees, including room and board, to their home institution while taking up a place at a host school in another country. Exchanges can occur at any academic level and in any discipline and can range in length from a summer session, one academic term, or one year.

A board of directors consisting of leaders in higher education and the private sector governs the organization. The board has general policy making functions for ISEP�s finances and activities. The board also appoints the president/executive director and approves new program development and changes in programs in keeping with ISEP's mission, plans and financial resources. The board meets at least twice annually.

Hall, a constitutional law scholar, is the author and editor of 21 books on the American legal and constitutional system, including the award-winning Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (New York, Oxford University Press, 2nd revised edition, 2005), and the Oxford Companion to American Law (New York, Oxford University Press, 2002). He is also the author of The Law of the Land: A History of the Supreme Court (Prince Frederick, Maryland: Recorded Books, 2003, fourteen 35-minute lectures on the history of the Supreme Court of the United States), and The Magic Mirror: Law in American History (New York, Oxford University Press, 1989; 2nd revised edition forthcoming in 2006). His books have been main and alternate selections of the History Book Club and the Book of the Month Club.

In addition, Hall was one of five Americans appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Assassination Records Review Board in 1992 to review and release to the public documents related to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. For his commitment to openness in government, the American Library Association bestowed its James Madison Award on him in 1999.

He received his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Minnesota, a master�s degree in 1967 from Syracuse University and a master of studies in law from Yale University in 1980.