A robotics engineer, an award-winning actress and director, a Syrian peace activist, a 2012 candidate for president of Iceland, and 12 other multitalented, global leaders have been named 2014 Yale World Fellows.
Yale World Fellows is the university’s signature global leadership development program. Each year since 2002, Yale has invited a group of accomplished mid-career professionals from a wide range of fields and countries for an intensive four-month period of academic enrichment and leadership training.
“Like prior cohorts, this year’s fellows are dynamic, high-impact practitioners committed to effecting positive change,” said Dr. Michael Cappello, director of the Yale World Fellows Program and professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. “Through the fellowship, Yale will provide these global leaders the valuable opportunity to take a step back from the intensity of their work and to develop a strategic vision for elevated impact at the national and international level.”
This year’s cohort brings the total number of Yale World Fellows to 257, representing 83 countries.
“It is a privilege to welcome these impressive leaders to campus,” said Yale President Peter Salovey. “Each year, World Fellows enrich the educational experience of Yale students through participation in classes, delivering presentations on campus, and individual mentoring. Through their experiences on the ground, they also provide valuable context and practical perspectives that inform the scholarly pursuits of Yale faculty seeking to address today’s most pressing global challenges. This innovative program continues to represent the very best of Yale’s efforts to educate and inspire future leaders.”
The mission of Yale World Fellows 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 link this network of world leaders to each other and to Yale, and to expand and deepen international understanding at Yale.
From August to December, the 2014 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 Yale World Fellows, and more information about the program, can be found on the World Fellows website.
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