In the span of one year, the International Presidential Fellows Program has expanded from the original group of two Japanese students to its current group of six students coming from Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, and Japan. The inclusion of students from foreign universities as Presidential Fellows first began in 2011, and quickly became an important component of CSPC’s mission to develop future civic leaders. Since 1970, through its Presidential Fellows Program, CSPC has convened a select group of university students to speak candidly with American policymakers and experts. In the age of globalization, the inclusion of international students brings fresh perspectives and enriches the program’s discourse.
The 2012-2013 group of International Fellows includes Ms. Lore Hayek of Austria, Mr. Rodrigo Morais Chaves of Brazil, Mr. Alexander Ognibene of Canada, Ms. Meicheng Wang of China, and Ms. Noriko Amanuma and Ms. Mutsumi Yoshikawa of Japan (to see their university affiliations, see the list of 2012-2103 Fellows). The wide range of interests reflected by their paper topics is both impressive, and indicative of the quality of work of the Fellows program as a whole. Ms. Hayek is a Ph.D. candidate studying the influence of American media on election campaigns. Mr. Chaves is pursuing a Master’s Degree through the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, where he conducts research on America’s role in the history of nuclear energy development in Brazil. Ms. Wang is researching urban planning and the special conditions for America’s collaborative planning and collaborative governance. Ms. Amanuma’s paper focuses on the role of social media on American politics, especially the 2012 presidential election. Lastly, Ms. Yoshikawa studies industrial policy, with her research directed to the similarities and differences between American and Japanese industrial policy. These papers are eligible for the Marron, Moffett and Kilmarx prizes, as well as publication in the annual Fellows’ Review.
International Fellows benefit from a number of activities during their trips to Washington, DC for the fall and spring conferences. During the Fall 2012 Conference, the six Fellows met with Austrian Ambassador to the United States, Hans Peter Manz, with Scotty Greenwood at the Canada-America Business Council, and had a guided tour of the National Mall.
In its inaugural year (2011-2012), thanks to the generosity of Toyota Motor Corporation, CSPC was able to partner with the US-Japan Research Institute to offer two Fellowship spots to students from Japan's top universities. The participants in our inaugural International Presidential Fellows Program were Mr. Kenji Hayata and Ms. Miki Ito. Mr. Hayata attends Waseda University where he is majoring in Economic and Industrial Development in East Asian Countries with a minor in Political Science. He is an intern with Foreign Affairs Japan, and is interested in researching the role of think tanks in the United States and how similar institutions might be established in Japan. He also spent a year studying in the United States at Bates College and a summer in Washington, DC working for the NHK Washington Bureau.
Ms. Ito attends the University of Tokyo where she is majoring in Law. She is a member of the U Tokyo Legal Consulting Office, and is researching the decision-making process of American political leaders. She spent her junior high and high school years in the United States, graduating cum laude from Choate Rosemary Hall.
The 2011-2012 program included private meetings with leaders and scholars including His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki, Ambassador of Japan to the United States;; Mr. Bill Breer, former Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Ms. Elyse Bauer Anderson, Foreign Policy Director for Congressman Frank Wolf; Ms. Meredith Broadbent, Scholl Chair for International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Dr. Greg Smith, Senior Researcher at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
If you are a representative of a college or university outside the United States and are interested in joining the International Presidential Fellows Program, please contact Andy Steele, Program Director, at 202-872-9800 or via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .