Fairmont State University Emeritus Professor Dr. Tulasi Joshi received a prestigious award when he attended the 2018 Nepalis National Convention in Chicago, IL this summer.

Joshi was the recipient of The U.S. President’s Volunteer Serice Award – Gold which was presented by the former prime minister of Nepal, Madhav K. Nepal. The award recognizes those tho have accomplished an outstanding community service over the course of a lifetime.

At the convention, Joshi also had the honor to present the NEMPA Popular Film Award  to the Nepali popular super star Bhuwan KC.  There were about 20 popular film stars that were selected in Nepal by by the Nepal Film Union for this award and had come to Chicago from Nepal to receive this award.

“It was a great honor to receive the Presidential award and to present  the NEMPA Popular Film Award,” he said. “The convention was the biggest one so far and people gathered there from all over the country with several dignitaries from Nepal and other honorable people.”

Joshi was born in the remote district of Bajhang, Nepal.He received his Master’s degrees from Tribhuvan University and the University of Hawaii and a Ph. D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He has worked for over 42 years as a professor of geography at Fairmont State University and is a life member and former treasurer of the Association of Nepalis in the Americas (ANA). He has been championing the education cause to empower deserving Nepali students thereby meeting the educational mission of ANA. He established scholarship programs for needy students of Bajhang for their higher education in Nepal, and for Nepali students for their undergraduate studies at Fairmont State University. About 50 students have benefited from these scholarship programs.

He also received the prestigious Cyrus R. Vance Award for International Education in West Virginia in 2003 from West Virginia Department of Education and Arts and a gold medal from the king of Nepal among several other award and recognitions.