On April 25, 2015, the 2015 Nepal earthquake tragically took the lives of more than 8,000 people and injured more than 16,000 individuals. Northern Illinois University College of Business professor Mark Rosenbaum, on a Fulbright assignment in Nepal at the time, was there to experience the massive earthquake that devastated the region.
According to the NIU College of Business website, Rosenbaum reported on the earthquake to major media outlets like WGN-TV, WLS-TV, CBS, the Daily Herald, Chicago Chronicle, and the Naperville Sun via Skype, despite having a partly-powered apartment before the building he was in partially collapsed as a direct result of shaking.
The earthquake’s epicenter was in the Gorkha district of Nepal and was the worst natural disaster to strike the mountain nation since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. Like dominos, the earthquake also triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 19, making it the deadliest day in the mountain’s storied history.
Rosenbaum was in Nepal as a Fulbrighter, a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Roughly 1,600 U.S. students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars, and 900 visiting scholars receive awards, in addition to several hundred teachers and professionals. Approximately 310,000 “Fulbrighters” have participated in the Program since its inception in 1946.
Rosenbaum is not scheduled to return from Nepal until June. While he is safe, the NIU professor indicated to the Naperville Sun and other media outlets that “I don’t plan to leave.”
You can read more about Rosenbaum’s experience here.