Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 24, 2006|Volume 34, Number 23

Former Yale Daily News editor to pursue journalism work in Asia as Luce Scholar

Yale senior Jacob Leibenluft has been named a Henry Luce Foundation Scholar for 2006-2007.

The Henry Luce Foundation annually selects 15-18 Luce Scholars to participate in one-year internships in the Far East. Established in 1974, the program concentrates on providing an intensive experience in Asia to young Americans who are not Asia specialists, and would not otherwise have such an opportunity. Placements can be made in East and Southeast Asia, in Brunei, Cambodia, China and Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Leibenluft hopes to work in journalism in China, Taiwan or South Korea. "Asia is changing fast, and I want to explore how that change is happening and what it will mean for the United States a generation or two in the future," he says. "I am interested in working in economic policy in the United States, but I don't think that it will be possible in 20 years -- and perhaps it isn't even possible now -- to understand the U.S. economy without understanding its relationship with Asia."

Leibenluft, from Chevy Chase, Maryland, majors in economics and history at Yale. He was editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News and helped run a program to teach journalism to New Haven high school students. He has also worked with the College Resource Center, an organization that helps local students prepare for college. As a sophomore, Leibenluft was one of 20 undergraduates from the U.S. and Canada to be Goldman Sachs Global Leaders, chosen for academic excellence and leadership. For two summers, he conducted research for Gene Sperling, the former national economic advisor to President Bill Clinton. Last summer, he traveled in India as a freelance reporter with the assistance of three Yale grants, writing stories for the Christian Science Monitor and Foreign Policy magazine. Also last year, he was named one of 75 Truman Scholars nationwide, selected on the basis of "leadership potential, intellectual ability and the likelihood of 'making a difference.'" Truman Scholars receive funding to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or other forms of public service.

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