2008 Woodie Awards
Bush appoints Corts to lead education effort
Ashley Shelsby
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: News
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Corts is currently a member of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, a U.S. international education exchange program. Created by Congress in 2002, the Fulbright Board intended to establish a team that would work with the academic world (grantees and educational institutions) to further education in different countries.
His involvement with the Fulbright Board made Corts a likely candidate for Bush's new program which will be conducted through the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID).
After Corts was recruited, he began a series of interviews. Later, he was asked to coordinate the program.
"I started interviews, and they started asking the question: How soon can you get here? The white house just does things that way," Corts said.
First Lady Laura Bush recognized Corts Monday at a global health and literacy banquet held in the Morgan Library in New York City.
"Dr. Corts has had a distinguished education career in the United States. He brings to his new job extraordinary compassion and skill," Bush said.
At the banquet, Corts dined with several first ladies of foreign countries including Estonia, Macedonia, South Africa and Afghanistan.
"You realize how universal the desire for education really is," Corts said.
The USAID spends $1 billion annually on global education programs, and Corts will now coordinate the way these funds will be used.
"With the Bush administration's emphasis on global education, people have begun to see that literacy for women is vital. Literacy increases both the longevity and quality of life for women and their children," Corts said. "We are looking at the whole developing world and trying to strategize and maximize emphasis on women and literacy."