Woodrow Wilson News & Publications
FOR RELEASE: June 18, 2012
CONTACT: Caryl McFarlane, Public Policy/International Affairs
(609) 452-7007 x135
Beverly Sanford, Vice President for Communications
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WOODROW WILSON FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES
PICKERING FELLOWS FOR 2012
U.S. State Department program supports preparation of future Foreign Service Officers
PRINCETON, NJ—Forty exceptional students aspiring to enter the United States' diplomatic corps—20 undergraduate and 20 just entering master's degree programs—have been awarded Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowships to support their training, beginning this upcoming academic year. All have demonstrated the dedication, initiative, integrity, cultural adaptability, communication skills, and thorough intellectual background that it takes to become a United States Foreign Service Officer. (See full lists of the 2012 Undergraduate and Graduate Fellows below.)
This fall, the members of this diverse new class will begin their journey to represent America in world affairs. The Pickering Fellowships, administered by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation for the U.S. Department of State, develop a source of well-prepared men and women whose academic backgrounds fulfill the skill needs of the United States Department of State and who are dedicated to representing America's interests abroad.
Among the new Fellows: a campus chapter president of Free Tibet who traveled throughout India to collect oral histories of Tibetan refugees, a Hudson Institute intern who researched projects for the Center for Political-Military Analysis, a Fulbright scholar in Venezuela who taught English to university students, and a Social Entrepreneurs Corps intern who helped pilot a Social Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Program in South Africa.
The 20 Pickering Undergraduate Fellows are the 19th class of Fellows named at the undergraduate level. Selected in their junior year, these Fellows will receive financial support towards tuition and other expenses during the senior year and during the first year of graduate study.
The 16th class of 20 Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellows will receive financial support towards a two-year, full-time master's degree program in a related field such as public policy, international affairs, public administration, or other academic fields such as business, economics, political science, sociology or foreign languages.
Fellows in both programs participate in one domestic and one overseas internship. They commit to three years of service as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State, contingent on their passing the Foreign Service requirements. The Foreign Service, a corps of working professionals who support the President of the United States and the Secretary of the United States Department of State in pursuit of the goals and objectives of American foreign policy, are "front-line" personnel who can be sent anywhere in the world, at any time, in service to the diplomatic needs of the United States.
The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program is named in honor of one of the most distinguished and capable American diplomats of the latter half of the 20th century. Ambassador Pickering holds the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest rank in the U.S. Foreign Service. He served as Ambassador to Nigeria, El Salvador, Israel, India, and the Russian Federation, finishing his career in the Foreign Service as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
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Founded in 1945, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation prepares the nation's best minds to meet its most important challenges, working through education. The Foundation supports its Fellows as the next generation of leaders shaping American society.
Alaina Brown • Swarthmore College
Jessica Carrillo • St. Mary's University
Khatijah Corey • University of the Pacific
Rajani Ghosh • Boston University
Hermes Grullon • DePauw University
Donna Hernandez • Georgetown University
Brittney Johnson • Vanderbilt University
Samantha Jordan • Lafayette College
Taryn Kaili • University of Hawaii
Ethan Lynch • Washington University in St. Louis
Mawusi Malik • Northern Arizona University
Amaury Munoz • State University of New York
Azline Nelson • Spelman College
Autumn Patterson • University of Pennsylvania
Malcolm Phillips • University of Central Florida
Ashton Robison • St. Edward's University
Melissa Sandoval • Franklin & Marshall College
Clint Shoemake • University of Arkansas
Trae Watson • Morehouse College
Ema Woodward • Carnegie Mellon University
Marvin Alfaro • New York University
Ernesto Alfonso • Columbia University
Allison Carragher • Johns Hopkins University
Jeung Hwa Choe • Syracuse University
Nardos Ghebregziabher • George Washington University
Shirley Green • University of Texas
Joyce Hahn • Harvard University
Kali Harper • Georgetown University
Rosanne Izzo • Northeastern University
Lance Jackson • University of Southern California
Jake Nelson • Yale University
Miranda Patterson • American University
Ayesha Quirke • Monterey Institute
Jesse Shaw • Columbia University
Stephanie Sobek • Harvard University
Andrew Stephens • University of Denver
Esther Tetruashvily • Harvard University
Michael Vasiloff • George Washington University
Maribel Vasquez • American University
Emily Yu • Columbia University