Pickering Fellows

The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program is a graduate school fellowship program that provides funding for graduate students as they prepare academically and professionally to enter the U.S. Foreign Service.

The fellowship seeks to recruit talented students in academic programs relevant to international affairs, political and economic analysis, administration, management, and science policy. The goal is to attract outstanding students from all ethnic, racial, and social backgrounds who have an interest in pursuing a Foreign Service career in the U.S. Department of State. The Program develops a source of trained men and women from academic disciplines representing the skill needs of the Department, who are dedicated to representing America's interests abroad.

The fellowship is funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The fellowship award can be applied to tuition, room, board, and mandatory fees during funded years of study, with reimbursement for books and for travel (one round trip per academic year, up to a set maximum amount). For the undergraduate Fellowship, the funded years are the senior year of undergraduate study and the first year of graduate study. For the graduate Fellowship, the funded years are two years of graduate study. Fellows must commit to pursuing a graduate degree in business administration, economics, public policy, international studies, or another relevant field, at one of the graduate schools participating in the program. Participating graduate schools typically provide financial support in the second year of graduate study based on need. Fellows meet annually in Washington, D.C., for a program orientation.

The Pickering Fellowship was established in 1992 as the U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program.

The program was renamed the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program, in honor of Thomas R. Pickering, a Career Ambassador in the Foreign Service who served as U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, El Salvador, Israel, India, Russia, and the United Nations over the course of his career.

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