Irham Dilmy
Head of Executive Development Program
Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia
Host: Shorter College, Rome, Georgia, United States

Dr. Irham Dilmy was the very first Fulbright Visiting Specialist from Indonesia. This Program is designed to promote understanding of the Muslim world and civilization by providing opportunities for U.S. higher educational institutions to host specialists from the Muslim world for short-term programs of intensive lecturing and public outreach. The institutions that host the Visiting Specialists are usually smaller liberal arts colleges, community colleges, minority serving institutions or institutions without much access to experts in Islam. The Visiting Specialists are able to talk about Islam and its impact on their own countries and societies. All Fulbright Visiting Specialists are expected to speak to students and academicians, as well as people in the surrounding communities. They are also encouraged to work on curriculum development, institutional-relationship building and public outreach. Dr. Dilmy was matched with Shorter College in Rome, Georgia. Like all of the Visiting Specialists, he was a good communicator and a cultural ambassador. Dr. Dilmy holds an MBA from American University and heads the Executive Development Program at Bina Nusantara University. Dr. Dilmy’s daughter studied for the seven weeks of the exchange at a local high school. She took part in the chorus group in the school and was selected as the lead singer for a performance at a local church. Dilmy’s wife and daughter also acted as unofficial ambassadors. Dr. Dilmy wrote of his experiences: “The seven weeks in Rome, Georgia has been memorable for myself as well as my wife and daughter who accompanied me. It has been rewarding professionally as a business professor and as a Muslim in a foreign country since we were able to share our lives with people of different faiths discussing similarities rather than differences…. Meeting people from all walks of life always fascinates me. People in Rome, Georgia, are particularly religious and mostly open-minded to learn and want to know about others and their lives. The friendship that we made with the people and their families there will be long-lasting and we can promote international and religious understanding through the small steps we made.”

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