Ford Foundation Announces International Fellowship
January 10, 2001
University Park, Pa. -- On November 30, 2000, the Ford Foundation announced a major international graduate fellowship program to help prepare a new generation of future leaders for the challenges of the 21st century. "This program may be of particular interest to faculty during the coming graduate recruiting cycle," says Graduate School Senior Associate Dean Regina Vasilatos-Younken. "This is a remarkable opportunity and Penn State certainly wants to be involved from the outset."

The centerpiece of the Foundation's $330 million commitment is the new Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) that will provide $280 million over the next 10 years to support post-baccalaureate study for Fellows from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia. The IFP, which will award 350 new graduate fellowships annually, assisting a total of 3,500 Fellows over the next decade, represents the largest single grant in the Ford Foundation's history.

The IFP provides support for up to three years of formal graduate-level study. Fellows will be selected from countries in Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia where the Foundation maintains active overseas programs. U.S. nationals are not eligible, although Fellows may study in the United States. The program aims to broaden the talent pool of future leaders by making a special effort to recruit exceptional individuals who would otherwise lack opportunities for advanced study. This will include women, people who belong to particular ethnic, racial or religious groups, and those who live outside capital cities or in countries in conflict or post-conflict situations.

For the 2001-2002 competition, eligible countries include West Africa (Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana), Chile and Peru, Russia, and Vietnam. Applicants can be working in any academic discipline or field of study related to the Ford Foundation's grant-making areasAsset Building and Community Development, Education, Media, Arts and Culture, and Peace and Social Justice

For details, including the locations of International Fellowship Program (IFP) offices in eligible countries, see http://www.fordfound.org/.

CONTACT: Rosemarie Hibbler, Alumni and Public Relations, The Graduate School. Phone: 814-865-9452 rqh7@psu.edu