Eisenhower Fellowships
2025 Annual Meeting
PHILADELPHIA | MAY 13-14, 2024
Eisenhower Fellowships welcomed over 200 attendees from almost 30 countries for two days of
extraordinary events to mark its 2025 Annual Meeting on May 13 and 14 in Philadelphia.
Pin Night Reception
Eisenhower Fellowships celebrated three Fellow classes at the Spring 2025 Pin Ceremony, awarding certificates and fellowship pins to the 2025 Global, 2024 USA and 2024 Zhi-Xing Programs. This was followed by a cocktail reception at the Kimmel Center, where Fellows from multiple years and countries mingled with Trustees and Friends of EF.
Annual Awards Dinner
Over 200 people attended the 2025 Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday evening, May 14 at the National Constitution Center. The master of ceremonies, veteran broadcast journalist Ray Suarez, hosted the program. Featured speakers were EF President George de Lama, 2024 USA Fellow Constance Ranae Jones, and 2025 Global Fellow Elise Caluwaerts from Belgium. Capping the evening Elise Caluwaerts, a renowned opera singer, returned to the stage with a beautiful aria???????
2025 Distinguished Fellow Award
Miatta Gbanya of Liberia and the late Nuru Mugambi of Kenya were co-recipients of the 2025 Eisenhower Fellowships Distinguished Fellow Award, marking the first time this honor has been bestowed upon African Fellows.
The award celebrates their remarkable professional achievements, exemplary engagement with EF and exceptional leadership in their respective countries. Eisenhower Fellowships Chairman Dr. Robert M. Gates presented the award at EF’s Annual Awards Dinner at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on May 14, 2025.
Members of the inaugural 2016 Africa regional program, Miatta and Nuru contributed greatly to the growth and influence of the EF Network in Africa inspiring the EF global network with their selflessness, their courage and their dedication to giving back and helping others. Accepting the award on behalf of Nuru were her daughter Makenna Mugambi and sister Christina Mugambi.
2025 Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service
Business leader and philanthropist David Rubenstein received Eisenhower Fellowships highest honor, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service, for his extraordinary public service to support higher education and the arts, advance economic empowerment in disadvantaged communities and preserve America’s historical legacy to deepen global understanding.
The award was presented by the Chairman of Eisenhower Fellowships, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert M. Gates, at the 2025 Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, May 14 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
