 | At a World Fellows reunion event in December, the fellows who graduated in 2002 met with the 2003 graduates for the first time. Pictured here with Yale Professor Bruce Ackerman (center) are two World Fellows from opposite ends of the Mexican political spectrum: 2002 World Fellow Amilcar Sandoval, an adviser to leftist presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and 2003 World Fellow Sofia Frech, a former adviser to conservative Mexican president Vicente Fox. |
President Richard C. Levin has announced the selection of the 2004 Yale World Fellows.
Part of a broad effort to deepen the University's reputation as a "global university," the Yale World Fellows Program brings 16 to 18 early mid-career leaders to campus each fall to study critical issues facing the global community.
"In just three years, the Yale World Fellows Program has assembled a diverse network of leaders spanning more than 40 countries around the world," says Levin. "With the selection of the 2004 fellows, that network extends to France, Russia, Israel and Iran. The University is sure to benefit immeasurably from the perspectives these leaders bring to campus, and from the relationships they help build between Yale and their home countries."
The World Fellows Program is designed to bring together leaders with a broad range of cultural and professional experience. The 18 selected for this year's program include: the executive director of India's second largest bank; the former interim mayor of La Paz, Bolivia; the principal adviser to the prime minister of Kosovo; the founder of Morocco's first independent business newspaper; the director of the Israel's first legal advocacy group dedicated to Arab minority rights; a Russian corporate governance reformer; Northern Ireland's top government official in youth development; one of China's most influential investigative journalists; and the Filipino congressman who spearheaded passage of that nation's Clean Air and Clean Water acts. (See related story, below.)
"The Yale World Fellows Program is designed to give some of the most promising mid-career leaders in the world today a rare opportunity to learn from experts outside of their field," says Daniel Esty, director of the World Fellows Program and professor of environmental law and policy at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. "We look forward to what is sure to be a robust interplay of ideas when these 2004 World Fellows sit down together around the seminar table."
The core of the World Fellows Program is the World Fellows Seminar. Taught by some of Yale's most distinguished faculty, the seminar challenges the fellows to grapple with global developments outside the realm of their day-to-day work. They examine the latest research into the AIDS crisis and global warming, learn how countries around the world approach the questions of economic development and national security, and immerse themselves in provocative theoretical readings about religion, ethnicity, social justice and international cooperation.
Through a weekly dinner speaker series and occasional trips to New York and Washington, World Fellows have intimate access to prominent Yale alumni and other American leaders, observed World Fellows Program Associate Director Kel Ginsberg. "Last year's fellows met with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Washington Post White House correspondent Dana Milbank, among others," Ginsberg says.
In addition to expanding the personal and professional horizons of the fellows, the program seeks to provide a vantage point on the world for the entire Yale community. In 2003, World Fellows shared their insights and experiences with the larger Yale community at more than 70 lectures, panel discussions and informal gatherings across campus. They hosted a "Yale World Fellows Night" celebration that featured music and food from around the world as well as panel discussions on human rights, international trade and the future of the European Union. The event drew more than 400 students and faculty.
"It is difficult to overstate the value of having 18 top-performing leaders step directly out of the trenches onto the Yale campus," says Dr. Michele Barry, adviser to the World Fellows Program and professor of medicine and global health at the School of Medicine. "They can make students understand how global forces affect local communities and illustrate the innovative capacity to respond. In short, they show that globalization is a two-way street."
While the fellows live in apartments spread around the Yale campus, they are also affiliated with one of the 12 residential colleges for the duration of their stay in New Haven. College masters select students with a strong interest in international affairs to serve as "undergraduate liaisons" for the fellows. These students, in turn, work to integrate the fellows into residential college life -- planning everything from small, informal dinners to master's teas where the fellow is the guest of honor.
"This year each World Fellow will be assigned two or three liaisons instead of one," says YoonSeok Lee '05 of Davenport College, coordinator of the student liaison program. "This means more students will have an opportunity to develop close mentor relationships with the World Fellows. But it also means we'll have twice as many liaisons out there working to involve the fellows in all aspects of student life."
While most World Fellows will spend just four months at Yale, the program is meant to lay the foundation for lifelong ties to the University, says Esty.
Already more than half a dozen World Fellow alumni have paved the way for Yale College students to serve as interns in their home countries. In the summer of 2004, Yale College students will lend support to non-governmental organizations lead by World Fellows alumni in China, India, Iraq and Peru, among other locales.
World Fellows alumni also rely on each other -- and on the Yale faculty -- to serve as advisers and collaborators. For example, Temuri Yakobashvili, a World Fellow in 2002, has drawn on professors like Yale historian John Gaddis to help launch a new leadership training center in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The center will train mid-career government officials throughout the Caucuses.
Dr. Ali Sindi, a leading public health expert in the Kurdish community of northern Iraq who was a 2003 World Fellow, gave more than a dozen talks at Yale this past fall about the lead up to and the aftermath of the war in Iraq. Since leaving New Haven, he has worked closely with Yale students and faculty to set up a non-profit institute that will research and report on the public health needs of northern Iraq. He also corresponds regularly with the World Fellows alumni, giving them an often-harrowing, front-line view of the latest developments in Iraq.
Title: Congressman, House of Representatives. Expertise: Political science, sustainable development, microfinance. Age: 38. As one of the youngest congressmen in the Philippines, Acosta has played a leading role in the recent passage of both the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
Title: Councilwoman, Municipality of La Paz; national secretary of the Movimiento Sin Miedo political party. Expertise: Politics, law, poverty issues, fiction writing. Age: 29. Barja-Chamas is already one of the most prominent women in politics in Bolivia. She helped found the "Movimiento Sin Miedo" political party and has served as interim mayor of La Paz.
Title: Principal trade policy adviser, Agence Française de Développement (the government agency in charge of French economic aid efforts around the world). Expertise: Trade, economic development, global business law. Age: 29. Since Cattaneo took over the job of using French international aid money to help poor countries strengthen their export economies, France has moved from 15th to 2nd place in the World Trade Organization rankings of countries that contribute the most to building trade capacity around the world.
Title: Senior lawyer, VimpelCom, OJSC (a Russian cellular provider listed on the New York Stock Exchange). Expertise: Corporate governance, security exchange regulation, international law. Age: 38. Dashko helped draft plans for the Russian Security Exchange regulatory body before going in-house with VimpelCom. As a leading corporate governance expert, Dashko lobbies members of the State Duma on behalf of business interests.
Title: Principal adviser to the prime minister of Kosovo. Expertise: Human rights, constitutional law. Age: 29. In his advisory role, Dugolli reviews the work of numerous government experts and briefs the prime minister of Kosovo on the most essential developments in national and international affairs.
Title: Deputy chief executive officer, Shanghai Stock Exchange. Expertise: Security exchange regulation, macroeconomics, banking. Age: 40. A rising star in the Chinese government, Fang has been charged since 2001 with bringing greater order to the Shanghai Stock Exchange by reducing price manipulation and other destabilizing practices.
Title: General director, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights. Expertise: Human rights, constitutional law. Age: 40. Jabareen founded Israel's first legal advocacy group dedicated to Arab minority rights. He has argued numerous landmark cases in front of the Israeli Supreme Court and is the first law professor in Israeli history to teach a course on Arab minority rights in Israel.
Title: Publisher, editor and reporter, Le Journal Hebdomadaire. Expertise: Journalism, international business and investment, economic reform in the Middle East. Age: 36. As the founder of Morocco's first independent business newspaper, Jamai is a leading voice advocating economic and political reform in Morocco and the region.
Title: President, Georgian Young Lawyers' Association. Expertise: Human rights, international law, constitutional law, democratic reform. Age: 31. As one of the most public faces of the recent "revolution" in Georgia, Khidasheli defended detained political activists in the Georgian courts and spoke forcefully in press interviews about the need for democratic reforms.
Title: Director, Enterprise and Growth Unit, Her Majesty's Treasury. Expertise: Economic policy, economic growth, corporate governance. Age: 35. At the British Treasury, Kingman oversees development of national policies aimed at boosting Britain's annual economic growth rate.
Title: Program development manager, ActionAid Malawi. Expertise: non-governmental organizations management, economic development, poverty alleviation. Age: 40. Kwengwere is credited with increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of ActionAid in dealing with a range of critical issues, from the HIV/AIDS crisis to economic policy.
Title: Independent investigative journalist, environmental consultant. Expertise: The environment, economic development, Chinese political and social history. Age: 36. Ma's 1999 book "China's Water Crisis" pieces together more than 5,000 years of Chinese history to explain how slow but steady environmental degradation led to recent disastrous instances of flooding and water scarcity.
Title: Chief executive officer, Living Color Business Magazine. Expertise: Journalism, international business, political and economic reform. Age: 38. As founder of Myanmar's first independent business magazine, Maung provides one of the few independent voices on politics and economics in Myanmar today.
Title: Executive director, ICICI Bank. Expertise: Finance, economic development, banking. Age: 40. As executive director of India's second largest bank, Mor has overseen the development of a wide range of innovative investment products that help make money available for economic development throughout India.
Title: Director of SMB Channels, IBM Europe. Expertise: International business, technology, South African politics. Age: 40. In 10 years as a top manager at IBM, Nyati has devised and marketed cutting-edge IT solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses in South Africa and large multinationals around the world.
Title: U.N. development coordinator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Kosovo. Expertise: Human rights, economic development. Age: 38. Piper coordinates the activities of 15 different U.N. funds, including UNDP, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization and the World Bank.
Title: Director, Bureau for Youth Health, Ministry of Health. Expertise: Psychiatry, drug prevention, public health. Age: 43. In his post, Razzaghi led a team of experts charged with devising and implementing Iran's first national drug prevention strategy.
Title: Head of Children and Young People's Unit, Office of the First Minister. Expertise: Human rights, youth development, law, social issues. Age: 36. Stevens oversees four advisory panels (one comprised of 12- to 18-year-olds) charged with developing and implementing a 10-year over-arching strategy to help Northern Ireland's youth "fulfill their potential as citizens in society."
T H I S
New class of World Fellows chosen
Members of the 2004 Class of Yale World Fellows
J.R. Nereus Acosta -- Philippines
Cecilia Barja-Chamas -- Bolivia
Olivier Cattaneo -- France
Karina Dashko -- Russia
Ilir Dugolli -- Kosovo
Xinghai Fang -- China
Hassan Jabareen -- Israel
Aboubakr Jamai -- Morocco
Tinatin Khidasheli -- Georgia
John Kingman -- United Kingdom
Paul Kwengwere -- Malawi
Michael Ma -- China
Nay Win Maung -- Myanmar
Nachiket Mor -- India
Mteto Nyati -- South Africa
Robert Piper -- Australia
Emran Razzaghi -- Iran
Heather Stevens -- Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
New class of World Fellows chosen
Yale broadens environmental goals for future
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Yale Community Service Day
Alumni donate lifesaving gifts to Engineering, Athletics
Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft Bulldog star Nate Lawrie
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Drama school's 'Uncle Vanya' breaks from naturalist tradition
Graduates of the drama school will gather for Reunion Weekend
Michael Denning to sign copies of his new book at local store
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