SHU Professor Receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award

Kanwalroop ‘Kathy’ Dhanda will research climate change’s impact on Iceland’s economy

Kanwalroop “Kathy” Dhanda, professor of management at Sacred Heart University’s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology (WCBT), has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Award to study the impact of climate change from an economic perspective.

The Fulbright Commission in Iceland, the Fulbright Scholarship Board and the U.S. Department of State awarded her the research grant to examine the impact of climate change on Iceland’s economy and supply chains from a business point of view. She will also teach a graduate course on supply chain management at the University of Iceland.

“My background is in sustainability, but from the lens of a business perspective,” Dhanda said. “How do business professionals change the paradigm toward addressing climate change?  In Iceland, I am going to be looking at how climate change is impacting the supply chains and the economy at large.”

Dhanda is among more than 800 U.S. citizens who will teach or conduct research abroad during the 2023-2024 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Fulbrighters engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchanges, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.

“In our field, the Fulbright Scholar Award is the pinnacle of an academic career; it is the highest award,” said Dhanda. “It is such an honor because the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. In a way, they are naming me as an ambassador from the U.S. going to Iceland.”

Dhanda will be in Iceland for the fall 2024 semester. When she returns to Sacred Heart for the spring 2025 semester, she expects to bring with her considerable knowledge and findings and to have established a liaison between the University of Iceland and SHU.

“Kathy has been a crucial part of our business students’ success over the past seven years, so she is nothing short of deserving of this honor,” said David Taylor, dean of the WCBT. “The University is thrilled for her, and we cannot wait to hear about the work she does when she’s in Iceland.”