Fulbright Commission Board
The Fulbright Commission’s eight-person board is appointed by the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, with members from both Ireland and the U.S.
U.S. Members
Prof. Diane Negra
Chair of the Fulbright Commission Ireland Board
Professor of Film Studies and Screen Culture
A member of the Royal Irish Academy, Diane is the author, editor or co-editor of twelve books including What a Girl Wants?: The Reclamation of Self in Postfeminism (2008), Extreme Weather and Global Media (2015), and Imagining "We" in the Age of "I": Romance and Social Bonding in Contemporary Culture (2021). Her work in media, gender and cultural studies has been widely influential and recognized with a range of research awards and fellowships. She is Chair of the Royal Irish Academy Working Group on Culture and Heritage. An in-demand speaker with a long track record of editorial board service for journals including Screen, Cultural Studies and The Velvet Light Trap, she has served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and currently serves on the Board for Console-ing Passions. An American academic trained at the University of Texas at Austin, Professor Negra has been based in the UK and Ireland since 2002. She was Fulbright Professor at the University of Gdansk in 1999-2000.
Angela Gjertson
Angela Gjertson joined U.S. Embassy Dublin as the Deputy Public Affairs Officer in August 2020. Prior to that, she served as the Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer responsible for alumni programming at U.S. Embassy Islamabad. In Washington, Angie served as a NATO Desk Officer and a Regional Policy Officer for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Angie's other overseas tours included serving as a Consular Officer at U.S. Consulate Montreal and an Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer at U.S. Embassy Jakarta. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern European Studies from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s degree from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Before joining the Foreign Service, she was a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the U.S. Department of State.
Thea Gilien
Director, Programmes and Experiential Learning Abroad, Boston College Ireland
Thea received her BA in International Studies with an emphasis on Germany from Sonoma State University in California. In addition to serving on the Board of the Fulbright Commission, she is a founding Board Member of the Association of Study Abroad Providers in Ireland (ASAPI) and is currently Treasurer of the Irish US Alumni Association (IUSA).
Kellee Farmer
Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy Dublin, Ireland
Kellee Farmer is the Counselor for Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin. A Foreign Service Officer since 2007, Kellee has most recently served as a Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy and Cultural Affairs Officer in U.S. Embassy Hanoi, where she oversaw the administration of the Fulbright Program in Vietnam. Kellee has also served in public diplomacy roles in U.S. embassies in Vienna and Islamabad. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Kellee was a House of Representatives congressional aide for eight years. She is a Jayhawk, a proud graduate of the University of Kansas.
Irish Members
Prof. Derek O'Keeffe
Professor of Medical Device Technology at the University of Galway
Prof. Derek O’Keeffe is a Physicianeer, he holds dual first-class honors degrees and doctorates in Engineering and Medicine. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard, a Green Templeton Scholar at Oxford and is a graduate of the Endocrinology Clinical Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, USA. As well as multiple academic publications, he holds biomedical patents and several international research prizes. He has previously worked with NASA placing a sleep experiment onboard the International Space Station and was their flight surgeon for a NEEMO Aquarius mission. He has explored over 110 countries, volunteered extensively & was awarded The Outstanding Young Person of the World by Junior Chamber International. He is a Black Belt Taekwondo Instructor, Qualified Pilot, Advanced Scuba Diver & Triathlete. In 2022 he designed an award winning Cardiovascular themed garden for Bloom in the Phoenix Park. He was recently awarded a first-class honors MBA degree and is the new HSE National Clinical Lead for Diabetes. He is a Consultant Physician (Endocrinologist) at University Hospital Galway and is the Professor of Medical Device Technology at the University of Galway.
Prof. Sarah Culloty
Head of the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science at UCC
Prof. Sarah Culloty is Head of the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science at University College Cork and has been Director of the Environmental Research Institute at UCC since 2014. As Head of College she leads a student and staff body of over 6000 with nine academic units and 24 affiliated research centers and institutes including the Environmental Research Institute, APC microbiome Ireland and the Tyndall National Institute. She holds a BSc and PhD in Zoology from UCC. She was Head of the School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences from 2014-2018. Sarah is a marine biologist and zoologist working on the impact of anthropogenic factors on aquaculture and fisheries industry and more recently has been looking at the potential impact of climate change on these sectors. She has served on a number of national and international advisory boards and working groups and her research has informed international guidelines and legislation on aquatic animal health. She has had extensive engagement in supporting the EDI agenda at UCC and was part of the university’s committee when it received its first institutional Athena Swan award and was Head of one of the first schools at UCC to receive its award. She is currently a Governor of Fota Wildlife Park and chairs its Ethics Committee, is a board member of the Irish Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform and a board member of NIBRT – the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training.
Prof. Paul Donnelly
Deputy Chair of the Fulbright Commission Ireland Board
Professor of Management and Organisation Studies, Technological University Dublin
Paul received his PhD from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is a graduate of the Institute of Directors’ Chartered Director Programme. He is both a Fulbright Fellow and a Taiwan Fellow, and is President Emeritus of the Irish Fulbright Alumni Association. He is a past Chair of the Critical Management Studies Division and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the US Academy of Management. In addition to serving on the Board of the Fulbright Commission, he is an Independent Expert on Ireland’s National Economic and Social Council and is an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Transparency International Ireland.
Marianne Doyle
Senior Strategic Transformation Manager with An Garda Síochána
Marianne is a Senior Strategic Transformation Manager with An Garda Síochána, with a background in marketing, communications and education. She worked in international education for over a decade, managing international student recruitment, scholarships, alumni relations, and partnership development predominantly in North America, and also in China, Russia, and the EU. Marianne’s specific expertise is in Transnational Education (TNE), which is a subject she has researched for government agencies and HEIs.
Prior to working in international education, Marianne worked managing communications for the Irish Fulbright Commission and in the Public Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Dublin.
She holds a number of postgraduate qualifications in communications, law, business administration, and leadership, and a BA (Hons) in Russian and German.
Marianne served on the board of the Irish Baroque Orchestra from 2012-2020, with a term as chairperson.