PHILADELPHIA, October 28—Eisenhower Fellowships announced today a dynamic new one-year postgraduate study program abroad for recent American college graduates leading to a Master’s Degree in public policy or international relations at two prestigious European universities.
Eisenhower Global Scholars will receive an all-expenses-paid year of intense academic study and cultural immersion at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government in the United Kingdom or IE University in Madrid, Spain, enriched by structured engagement with the influential leaders of Eisenhower Fellowships’ global network of Fellows.
Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) is one of the world’s premier international leadership exchange organizations, an independent, non-governmental, nonpartisan nonprofit based in Philadelphia that brings exceptional midcareer leaders ages 32-45 from all fields and all over the world to the United States for individualized fellowships, and sends ascendant American leaders on parallel fellowships abroad.
Founded in 1953 as a birthday present to President Dwight David Eisenhower from four Philadelphia business leader friends—Walter Annenberg, Thomas Watson of IBM, Thomas McCabe and Ward Wheelock—the organization for 66 years has served to connect and empower young leaders around the globe to advance its mission of enhancing international understanding and creating a world more peaceful, prosperous and just.
The Chairman of Eisenhower Fellowships, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, hailed the Global Scholars Program as a dynamic new dimension of EF’s longstanding USA Program that sends midcareer American leaders abroad.
“The Eisenhower Global Scholars Program is an exciting new way to expose more young American leaders to the rest of the world and to extend the extraordinary legacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of our greatest presidents and military leaders, to new generations of young Americans,” Dr. Gates said.
The Eisenhower Global Scholars Program in its initial phase will provide scholarships for up to four outstanding American university graduates overseas for an academic year of postgraduate study leading to a Master of Public Policy degree from the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford for internationally-minded students focused on public service and effective governance or a Master in International Relations degree at the School of Global and Public Affairs at IE University in Madrid for students focused on the global economy, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Eisenhower Global Scholars Program will select academically high-performing recent college graduates admitted to Oxford and IE who have demonstrated a commitment to public service or fostering entrepreneurship. Applicants will be drawn from recent graduates of universities in and around EF’s USA hubs and mini-hubs in Philadelphia, Boston, North Carolina, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas.
During and after their academic year of study, the Global Scholars will engage with Eisenhower Fellows in Europe and back in the United States. After their year of study abroad is completed, the Global Scholars will be offered an optional three-month professional internship in their chosen field.
“The Eisenhower Global Scholars will bring a prestigious new dimension to our world-class leadership exchange programs and immerse future generations of young Americans in the study of enlightened international relations and ethical and effective business practices,” said Eisenhower Fellowships President George de Lama.
“This program will also introduce these American students to our influential network of exceptional leaders around the world, opening new professional doors and personal vistas that will drive their lifelong engagement with our Fellows to build bridges across borders and cultures.”
For more information and to apply, click here.