This Fulbright research examines changes in trust between public, for profit, and nonprofit organizational partnerships in the city of Jaguariúna, Brazil, where Dr. Caito’s host institution (UniEduK) has a campus. Field research will be conducted through two, two-month long trips over the next two summers.
“Brazil is an exemplary context for this research where organizations face many economic, political, and social uncertainties when partnering. My Brazilian colleague, Dr. Francisco Salles Souza, will be a great help to me,” Dr. Caito said. “This research will collect data through surveys and interviews of organizational leaders and employ organizational network analysis (ONA) and process tracing methods to examine their perceptions of other leaders’ competence, benevolence and integrity in the partnership.”
This research project will strengthen the relationship between Dr. Caito’s host institution and Anderson University. In addition to the research, he will make himself available to his host institution for public lectures, invite their students to learn from this research, and develop future collaborative opportunities with their faculty. Further, it will teach these organizational leaders how to optimize mutual trust to transition their temporary collaborations into durable partnerships amid great uncertainty and extend that trust through their shared social networks for greater mutual benefit.
Dr. Caito is among more than 800 U.S. citizens who will teach or conduct research abroad for the 2024-2025 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Fulbrighters engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs, and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.
As Fulbright Scholar alumni, their careers are enriched by joining a network of thousands of esteemed scholars, many of whom are leaders in their fields. Notable Fulbright alumni include 62 Nobel Prize laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize recipients, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and 41 who have served as a head of state or government. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants from over 160 countries—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to challenges facing our communities and our world.
“Anderson University is proud of Dr. Caito and grateful that the Fulbright U.S. Scholar program has afforded him this unique opportunity for the next two summers,” said Dr. Ryan Neal, provost at Anderson University. “I am convinced that Dr. Caito’s on-site efforts in 2024 and 2025 will enrich his host institution and country, and they will also inform his teaching and support his research. Anderson University is committed to global engagement. He joins a growing list of Fulbright recipients on our faculty. We are now home to six Fulbright winners; including two in English (Dr. Wayne Cox and Dr. Kolawole Olaiya, who is currently in Nigeria for the 2023-2024 academic year), one in Business (Dr. Kent Saunders), one in Art & Design (Dr. Candace Livingston), and one in Music (Dr. Richard Williamson).”
More than 800 U.S. scholars — faculty members, artists, and professionals from all backgrounds — teach or conduct research overseas through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually. In addition, more than 2,000 U.S. students, artists, and early career professionals from all backgrounds in more than 100 different fields of study receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards annually to study, teach English, and conduct research overseas.
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program. In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student and Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.
For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit https://fulbrightprogram.org.