President Bush names Islander to education panel

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Sunday, November 30, 2002

Rita DiMartino of Eltingville to serve on the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board

A longtime Staten Island political activist has been appointed to the board that supervises the U.S. government’s premier international educational exchange program.

Rita DiMartino of Eltingville has been named by President George W. Bush to serve on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Her three year- term expires Sept. 22, 2005.

Ms. DiMartino is a longtime leader in the state Republican party.

The scholarship board consists of 12 members from academic, cultural and public life. The board was created to establish an impartial, independent body to select individual grantees and participating educational institutions.

The Fulbright Program gives recent college graduates, professionals in various fields and college faculty an opportunity to study and conduct research in countries all over the world. Recent projects have involved cancer research in the United Kingdom, free market development in Mauritius, women’s rights in Chile and contemporary artistic expression in India.

Ms. DiMartino is a consultant and former vice president of Congressional relations for AT&T. In that role, Ms. DiMartino assisted with the firm’s relations with the federal administrators, Congress and state governments.

Ms. DiMartino is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations; the National Council of LaRaza, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; the Cuban American National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, among other organizations.

She earned her bachelor’s degree at the College of Staten Island and was inducted into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 1986.

Active on all levels of Republican politics, she was elected delegate-at-large to six Republican national conventions, served on the platform committee in 1992 and was elected executive vice chair of the state Republican Committee in 1988.

The Fulbright program was established by Congress in 1946. By the time World War II ended, the United States had accumulated surplus properties in many countries. Sen. J. William Fulbright suggested proceeds from the sale of those properties to be used to fund educational exchange programs. Today, the Fulbright Program is considered an integral part of U.S. diplomatic relations.