FARMINGTON — F. Celeste Branham, University of Maine at Farmington vice president for student and community services, recently was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for study in Germany this fall. Branham is one of 20 higher education administrators in the U.S. selected to participate in the joint German-American Fulbright program.

According to the Fulbright Commission, the 2013 Fulbright Seminars for U.S. Administrators in International Education are “designed to introduce participants to the society, culture and higher education systems in France, Germany, United Kingdom, India, Japan or Korea through campus visits, meetings with foreign colleagues and government officials, attendance at cultural events and briefings on education. Participants gain new perspective on the need to internationalize U.S. campuses and insight into how it can be done.”

Branham will spend the first half of the program in Berlin, followed by travel to different universities throughout Germany, and ending her study in Strasbourg, France.

“I am truly honored to be named a Fulbright scholar and delighted to be able to study in a focused way the German higher education apprenticeship program,” said Branham in the news release. “I know this exceptional program of study will inform the work we do in UMF’s Partnership for Civic Advancement and will be directly beneficial to our students.”

For the last eight years, Branham has overseen 12 student affairs areas at UMF concerned with the welfare and success of students and has been a member of the University’s leadership team. Branham is director of the UMF Partnership for Civic Advancement. She is also president of the Western Maine Community Action Board of Directors and a gubernatorial appointee to the Maine Commission for Community Service.

Branham earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Southern Maine, a master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts in public administration and has since received certifications for leadership studies at the Harvard JFK School of Government and higher education management at the Harvard School of Education.