We are deeply saddened by the passing of Cornelia Paliama, affectionately known as Ibu Nellie, at the age of 72, in Jakarta.
Ibu Nellie was a central figure in AMINEF and the Fulbright program in Indonesia. She began her work with the Fulbright program in its early years, first as support staff at the US Embassy, and later as part of the AMINEF secretariat following the signing of the Fulbright Agreement in 1992. She served for many years as Senior Program Officer in charge of grants to Americans, and later as Adviser to the Executive Director, retiring in 2017. Across these phases, she helped shape and sustain the program through periods of transition and growth.
Colleagues remember Ibu Nellie for her deep institutional memory, quiet authority, and generosity with her time and knowledge. Fulbright grant recipients, in turn, remember her as a tremendously encouraging presence—someone who genuinely wanted to see them succeed.
Former AMINEF Executive Director Alan Feinstein shared:
“Bu Nellie was the face of Fulbright in Indonesia for many decades for thousands of Americans who came to Indonesia as researchers, lecturers, or students. Before AMINEF existed, when the Fulbright Program was handled directly from the US Embassy, Bu Nellie handled incoming Americans, while Pak Piet Hendrardjo worked with outgoing Indonesian Fulbrighters.
“When, as a Fulbright PhD dissertation scholar, I came to Indonesia in 1983, Nellie was my first port of call. She not only helped me with the bureaucratic aspects, but was also a warm and generous adviser who kept in touch with me—and with many other Fulbrighters—during and long after our projects were completed.
“I later came to AMINEF in 2014 and worked alongside Nellie, who was my invaluable adviser and the walking encyclopedia of Fulbright history in Indonesia. She will be sorely missed, and my condolences go to her family and the many friends who join in mourning her passing.”
Dr. Douglas E. Ramage, AMINEF Board of Managers and a 1991 Fulbright US Student Researcher, added that “Nellie was an important part of my life during some of my most formative years.”
Ibu Nellie exemplified the dedication and expertise of AMINEF staff. She was widely known and respected within the Fulbright community across the Asia-Pacific region as a model of how a Fulbright commission is staffed and sustained. Her contribution to AMINEF and the Fulbright program in Indonesia will be remembered through the people she mentored, the standards she upheld, and the institutional memory she carried.
We at AMINEF extend our condolences to Ibu Nellie’s family, friends, and loved ones. She will be remembered by the Fulbright community in Indonesia, including American Fulbrighters, for her dedication and care.
AMINEF mourns the loss of a devoted colleague and a pillar of the Fulbright community in Indonesia.
