Trailblazing Beyond Borders

Volkan Ozbek and Claire Braaten both believe learning should extend beyond the walls of a classroom. The two trailblazing Texas A&M University-San Antonio faculty members represent a university that is earning national and international recognition for innovative research and global impact.  

Ozbek, assistant professor of management, and Braaten, professor of criminology and criminal justice, recently became the first A&M-San Antonio faculty members to receive the Fulbright U.S. Scholar recognition, marking a historic milestone for the growing University.  

Their achievements reflect the University’s commitment to advancing academic distinction by supporting faculty research, expanding global partnerships and bringing real-world experiences back to the classroom.  

For Ozbek, that distinction will come through his upcoming Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award, which will take him to Management Center Innsbruck, a leading business-focused institution in Austria, during the spring 2027 semester.  

There, he will teach international business and management while building relationships that he hopes will lead to future collaborations with A&M-San Antonio.  

The award is the latest international honor for Ozbek, who joined A&M-San Antonio in 2023. In 2025, he received a Fulbright Specialist Program award and spent nearly two weeks teaching and collaborating at the University of Presov in the Slovak Republic.  

“The Fulbright is a golden bracelet among academics,” Ozbek said.  

A Turkish native who has traveled to 30 countries, Ozbek has long viewed international experiences as an essential part of his teaching.   

“It is really important for me to teach my students about life overseas,” he said.  

During his time in Austria, Ozbek plans to study how international business is evolving in today’s changing economy and incorporate those lessons into his courses when he returns to A&M-San Antonio.  

While Ozbek will focus on global business, Braaten’s Fulbright research will take her to Southeast Asia, where she will examine the growing threat of cyber-enabled labor trafficking and transnational scam operations.  

Students are much more engaged when you can bring real fieldwork into the classroom and show them what's happening in the world today.

~ Claire Braaten

Through the Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Visiting Scholar Initiative, Braaten will conduct field research in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam during summer 2027. She will interview prosecutors, judges, law enforcement officials and other criminal justice professionals to better understand how governments are responding to complex cases involving victims who are forced into criminal activity.  

“It’s a great opportunity,” Braaten said. “I’ve been wanting to do this for several years, and I was very interested in this specific subject matter.”  

Braaten’s research focuses on scam compounds, criminal enterprises that lure victims with fraudulent job advertisements before forcing them to participate in online crimes, including cryptocurrency fraud and investment scams.  

“They’re brought to these scam compounds, and they can’t leave,” she said. “They’re victims of labor trafficking, but they’re forced to scam people around the world.”  

Braaten’s interest in the region is also personal. Originally from the Philippines, she practiced law before moving into academia and joining A&M-San Antonio in 2011.   

Her Fulbright project builds on research she began in 2024 with support from an internal A&M-San Antonio Research Council grant. That work included interviews with government officials in Manila and Bangkok and has contributed to a book manuscript currently under review.  

“I teach human trafficking, criminal law, cybercrime and cybersecurity, so this research directly informs those classes,” she said. “Students are much more engaged when you can bring real fieldwork into the classroom and show them what’s happening in the world today.”  

As A&M-San Antonio continues to grow, the trailblazing accomplishments of Ozbek and Braaten demonstrate the expanding influence of its faculty and the University’s emerging culture of scholarly excellence.