Yale selects its 2013 World Fellows

A diplomat who serves as Egypt’s representative to the Syrian opposition, a Dutch documentary filmmaker, a managing editor with The Economist Group in London, and an advocate for transparency in the Nigerian oil sector are among those selected as Yale’s World Fellows this year.

The Yale World Fellows Program is the University’s signature global leadership development initiative and a core element of Yale’s ongoing commitment to internationalization. Each year since 2002, the University has welcomed a group of exemplary mid-career professionals — from a wide range of fields and countries — for an intensive four-month period of academic enrichment and leadership training.

“The 2013 class joins the extraordinary global network of World Fellows that Yale has been cultivating for more than a decade,” said Yale President Richard C. Levin. “From the start, our aim has been to encourage leaders to continue learning about important global issues throughout their lives and careers, and to develop a deeper understanding of the perspectives of others.”

With the addition of this year’s class, the total number of Yale World Fellows rises to 238, representing 81 countries. There were 2,500 candidates in this year’s applicant pool.

“The Yale World Fellows Program consistently attracts outstanding talent,” said World Fellows program director Michael Cappello, professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. “The 16 individuals selected this year are each poised to become even more effective change-makers in their societies and around the world. This unique leadership training opportunity will no doubt inspire their many future contributions to the global community.”

The mission of the Yale World Fellows Program is to cultivate and empower a community of globally engaged leaders committed to positive change through cross-disciplinary dialogue and action. It has at its core three main goals: to provide advanced training to emerging leaders from diverse disciplines and countries, to expand and deepen international understanding, and to link this network of world leaders to each other and to Yale.

“We are excited to have the 2013 Yale World Fellows on campus this fall,” said Yale President-elect Peter Salovey. “Yale students, faculty and staff will benefit greatly from engagement with the World Fellows, who, in turn, will be stimulated, provoked, and enriched by the vast intellectual resources they will discover on campus.”

From August to December, the 2013 World Fellows will participate in specially designed seminars in leadership, management, and global affairs taught by leading Yale faculty; audit any of the 3,000 courses offered at the University; engage in discussion and debate with a wide range of distinguished guest speakers; receive individualized professional development training; and deliver public talks on their work, their countries, and the issues about which they are passionate.

Biographies of this year’s World Fellows, and more information about the program, can be found on the World Fellows website.

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