FARMINGTON — Gretchen Legler, University of Maine at Farmington professor of creative writing, was recently named a 2011 Fulbright Scholar to the Kingdom of Bhutan.

A tenured professor with the distinguished UMF Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, Legler is one of only two professionals to ever receive a Fulbright Award to the small Buddhist country in the eastern Himalayan Mountains.

Selected through a competitive process based on academic merit and leadership potential, Legler will teach and do research at Paro College of Education in western Bhutan. The grant runs from October 2011 to early summer 2012, during which time Legler will be teaching college writing, creative writing and American literature.

An author and scholar, Legler received her doctorate in English from the University of Minnesota.