CMU spouses win Fulbright Scholar awards, prepare family for trip to Taiwan
Jennifer Liu and Lane Demas stand in front of Taiwan Historica in Nantou, Taiwan 2008.
Central Michigan University history faculty members Lane and Jennifer Liu Demas are taking their family of four to Taiwan after being awarded Fulbright Scholar Awards.
Fortunately, the couple both received acceptance letters for the same place during the same time frame. Through the award, the Demas will teach and conduct research in Taiwan's capital, Taipei.
The couple was thrilled, Lane said. The Demas would only pursue the opportunity together.
According to its website, the Fulbright Program was established in 1946 as an international educational exchange program sponsored by the United States government, designed to forge lasting connections between scholars in the U.S. and other countries.
Fulbright Awards are limited, and applicants must navigate many obstacles to secure their place in the program. One difficult task is having sponsors from the country you wish travel to.
In order to travel to the same country, Lane and Jennifer had to get their timing perfect.
Lane and Jennifer Liu Demas stand with their children in the Huntington Library in San Marino in 2018.
"It's very exciting for us, because, you know, we're bringing our kids and everything," Lane said. "Jennifer has family connections in the country, so it'll be nice to introduce our kids to Chinese culture and Taiwan, where their grandparents were raised."
This will not be the first time Jennifer has traveled to Taiwan for research purposes. She will be working with Taiwan's National Central Library. It will be a first time for Lane, who plans to teach U.S. and African American history at the National Chengchi University.
The Demas family plan to stay in Taipei from Jan. 15 until mid-June 2021. However, due to COVID-19, they must quarantine several weeks beforehand as requested by the country of Taiwan.
Although they are looking forward to the trip, the couple said they are also excited to return to CMU with shared experiences.
"The last ten years, (CMU) has really become our home, and we're really grateful for the support of the whole community," said Lane. "As much as we're looking forward to doing this trip, we're also looking forward to coming back home and bringing back that experience to share with people here."
Lane, who is originally from Oklahoma, met Jennifer during grad school in 2003. The two earned their doctorial degrees in history from the University of California Irvine in Jennifer's home state of California. The couple has been married for 11 years and are raising two children: Drexler, 6, and Olivia, 3.
Lane has been a professor at CMU since Fall 2008. Jennifer became a professor at CMU in 2010.
