Fran Siegel, an art professor at Cal State Long Beach (CSULB), has been awarded the international Fulbright Fellowship to Brazil for four months during the period from July 2015 through June 2016, CSULB officials announced Thursday.

This is Siegel’s first fellowship, and is one of the highest honors for scholars throughout the world, according to the university.

“I will be giving lectures about contemporary drawing in the art and art history department at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and my research on Afro-Brazilian Egungun will be in collaboration with Museu Afro in Sao Paolo which will culminate in a drawing exhibition at the Fowler Museum at UCLA,” Siegel said in a statement, adding that she believes her fellowship application may have been successful because of the cultural interest in her pproject. “I have also had international exhibition experience, teaching in Italy for five years, representing the U.S. in a biennial in Ecuador and residency fellowships in France, Spain and Italy.

Siegel is one of 800 people provided a Fulbright grant in more than 125 countries.