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Pellissippi State professor awarded Fulbright to Ireland to teach, research computer science

Professor Tammie Bolling seated at a restaurant in England
Pellissippi State Professor Tammie Bolling has been awarded a Fulbright to research and teach in Ireland this fall.

Professor Tammie Bolling, chair of Pellissippi State Community College’s Computer Information Technology program, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Ireland for fall 2022. 

Bolling will complete research to ascertain the acceptance and use of digital health care innovations in Ireland while also lecturing at Atlantic Technological University, formerly Letterkenny Institute of Technology, and mentoring a master’s level student there. She is the first Pellissippi State faculty member to be selected by the Fulbright program – and the first woman teaching at a Tennessee community college to do so. 

“I’ve known about the Fulbright program since I was an undergrad at the University of Virginia, and it’s something I truly wanted to do,” said Bolling, who taught for 17 years at Virginia community colleges and is in her 22nd year with Tennessee Board of Regents institutions. “This has been on my bucket list since then, and just now, the timing seems right.” 

Fulbright scholars engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to the United States, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad. 

Bolling already encourages Pellissippi State students to study abroad as the England program coordinator for the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies, but she hasn’t visited Ireland, she said. 

“There are probably 400 different Fulbright opportunities across the world, but I narrowed it down to three or four in Computer Science and sent out for a letter of invitation,” Bolling explained. “The school in Letterkenny reached out to me within 20 minutes to set up a meeting.” 

Bolling’s research in Ireland will look at engineering, computer science and health care processes — from cloud technology and mobile apps to data storage and data security. 

“Health care innovations is an interdisciplinary program, a merging of everything, and that’s me,” said Bolling, who has a Master of Business Administration with a dual degree in Healthcare Management, a doctorate in Educational Leadership, a master’s in psychology and a graduate certificate in Health Administration Management. “This program at Atlantic Technological University was a fit from the beginning because it combines all my areas of study.” 

Bolling is excited to be a Fulbright scholar this fall and will be happy to return to Pellissippi State and share what she learned. 

“I’m a first-generation college student, and I want students to know that even first-generation college students can succeed to complete their dreams,” she said. 

For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit eca.state.gov/fulbright or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Media Center by telephone 202-632-6452 or e-mail ECA-Press@state.gov. 

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