Woodrow Wilson News & Publications
FOR RELEASE: March 9, 2011
CONTACT: Beverly Sanford, Vice President for Communications
WOODROW WILSON FOUNDATION HIRES INDIANA DIRECTOR
PRINCETON, NJ—The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation is pleased to announce that Eric Bedel is joining the Foundation as Indiana Director. Mr. Bedel, who will work out of Indianapolis, will build on the Foundation’s already strong commitment to and presence in Indiana—the state is home to nearly 400 Woodrow Wilson Fellows; a new Indiana Teaching Fellowship was launched in 2007; and Indiana residents have recently been awarded Woodrow Wilson Fellowships in higher education, environmental conservation, and other fields. Mr. Bedel will coordinate the Foundation’s outreach and efforts with Fellows, the media, philanthropy, business, and other regional organizations.
A graduate of Ball State University, Mr. Bedel is a long-time resident of Indianapolis. His considerable experience in business includes senior positions at the Indianapolis branches of Towers Perrin, Bankers Life, and other national companies with a regional presence. More recently he has served as director of Common Goal, a youth dropout prevention program run by the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. He began his career as a secondary school teacher, which gave him a lifelong interest in improving education and schools.
The mission of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, an operating foundation, is to identify and develop talented individuals to address the major challenges facing society. The primary vehicle for accomplishing this is fellowships. The Foundation’s 21,000 Fellows hold positions of leadership in education, international relations, environmental activism, business, government, and many other fields. In 2007 the Foundation launched a state-based Teaching Fellowship designed to recruit and prepare the most talented people for teaching careers in hard-to staff subjects (math, science, and technology) in urban and rural secondary schools. The program, now operating in Michigan and Ohio as well as Indiana, is also designed to improve teacher education and enhance the prestige and recognition associated with choosing teaching as a profession.
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