Standerfer earned a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Colorado and served as a faculty member at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service (UACS) in Little Rock, Arkansas, for twelve years. She retired from UACS July, 2019, and was granted Emerita status.

For Fall 2023, she was awarded a Fulbright grant to Kosovo and was hosted by the University of Pristina’s Political Science and Journalism Departments. She and colleagues at the University of Pristina hosted an academic conference related to the 25^th Anniversary of NATO Intervention in Kosovo in March 2024. She was invited back to the University of Pristina in July 2024 to co-teach a course in New Media and Social Responsibility for the University of Pristina Summer Institute program.

Standerfer also served as a Fulbright Lecturing Scholar at University Marin Barleti in Tirana, Albania., 2012-2013. During her time there, she worked with U.N. Women and the U.S. Embassy delivering workshops and reports on public speaking, policy debate, conflict transformation, and effective advocacy. Subsequently, she was invited to be a Fulbright Scholar peer reviewer for applicants seeking placement in Eastern European countries. She was also invited to be a member of the second cohort of Fulbright Scholar Alumni Ambassador and now serves as a Legacy Ambassador.

Over the course of her career, she developed and presented workshops, research, and reports on volunteer recruitment, community capacity building, networking, managing pubic disputes and effective communication skills; collaborated with nonprofit and governmental organizations designing workshops and community meetings; facilitated community meetings on issues such as providing relevant services to homeless populations, addressing racial and ethnic tensions, and building healthy communities. She has also produced and delivered written reports for nonprofit and governmental agencies related to needs assessments, evaluations, and recommendations related to the work she does in the field.

Standerfer currently lives in Bentonville and spends considerable time going to her grandsons’ various recitals, games, matches, and meets. She also continues to co-facilitate workshops in the Arkansas Public Affairs Consortium’s Certified Public Manager and Certified Group Facilitator programs.

Dr. Mariofanna Milanova is an IEEE Senior Member, Fulbright U.S. Scholar, and NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute University Ambassador. Dr. Milanova’s work is supported by NSF, NIH, DARPA, DoD, Homeland Security, NATO, Nokia Bell Lab, NJ, USA and NOKIA, Finland. She has published more than 120 publications, over 53 journal papers, 35 book chapters, and numerous conference papers. She also has two patents.

Dr. Milanova is a professor in the Department of Computer Scinece at UA Little Rock and has been a faculty member since 2001. She received a M.Sc. in Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence and Ph.D. in Engineering and Computer Science from the Technical University, Sofia, Bulgaria. Dr. Milanova conducted post-doctoral research in visual perception at the University of Paderborn, Germany. Dr. Milanova has extensive academic experience at various academic and research organizations worldwide.

DeDe Long lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas and enjoyed a long career in international education at the University of Arkansas, celebrated as the home of the late Senator J. William Fulbright. She retired in July 2019 as Emeritus Director of the Office of Study Abroad and International Exchange. She received a Fulbright International Administrators grant to Germany in 2006.

A life member of the Fulbright Association, DeDe was elected to the national Board of Directors in 2018. She served as Chair of the National Board from 2020-2022 and completed her second three year board term in 2023.  DeDe has served the State Chapter in a number of capacities over several decades and currently serves as the Chapter Board Treasurer.

DeDe grew up in Denver, Colorado. She completed her B.A. in Comparative Religion at Bowdoin College and her M.Ed in Higher Education Administration at the University of Arkansas. Over a 40 year span, she created new positions in foreign student advising, foreign credential evaluation, international admissions, sponsored student programs, study abroad, and international exchange partnerships. She served as the Fulbright campus program advisor (FPA) for 25 years. DeDe has been recognized multiple times for her professional accomplishments at the institutional, state and national level.