

The Lois Roth Foundation, based in Washington D.C., supports exchanges across national and cultural boundaries to enhance international dialogue and understanding. Cooperating internationally with several Fulbright Commissions, particularly those in the Nordic countries, the Foundation also awards prizes in cultural diplomacy and translation. The Fulbright Finland Foundation has worked with the Lois Roth Foundation since 1991.
The Foundation was established in 1986 in memory of Lois Wersba Roth, a Cultural Officer with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) and a Fulbright alumna to Sweden. As a Columbia graduate student in sociology, Roth went to Uppsala University for a Fulbright year in the early 1950s. After a decade with the American Scandinavian Foundation – where she founded a path-breaking Ford Foundation program for forty of Finland's intellectual leaders – she joined USIA in 1966. She served her first five years in Cultural Affairs in Iran, primarily as the Director of the Iran-America Society, then served in Italy and France and in various positions in Washington. In her last position, she headed USIA's division of Fine and Performing Arts. The Foundation commemorates the life of Lois Roth by supporting selected people who work in the places and fields of inquiry that she loved.
The Roth-Thomson Award is awarded to a Fulbrighter to enhance or expand their original Fulbright project; the Award provides added value to the original project. Lois Roth Foundation Awards focus on the humanities, visual and performing arts, and social sciences, including public policy. Grantee selection is mostly based on the intellectual content of the proposed study, the academic and/or creative excellence of the applicant, and the likelihood of a broad reception and influence.
Up to two Roth-Thomson Awards of USD 2 000 each will be awarded this year to candidates in Finland. In order to apply, please submit a two- to three-page statement, to be read by the Selection Committee. This statement must
The Fulbright Finland Foundation will send your Fulbright dossier to the Lois Roth Foundation selection committee along with your statement.
The selection decisions will be published in early February 2023.