HKS Announces Research Fellowship

The Harvard Kennedy School will establish the Kenneth I. Juster Fellowship Fund to support students pursuing a master’s in public policy using a new $500,000 gift, the school announced last Thursday.

The Fellowship Fund will provide stipends to students specializing in international or global affairs seeking field or research experience during winter or summer breaks. Details about how students will be selected for the fund have not yet been released. The fellows will be funded to pursue work in areas such as international relations, international trade and economic affairs, international development and international negotiation and dispute resolution.

The Kennedy School hopes the Fellowship Fund will prompt rising young leaders to choose to pursue a master’s in public policy at Harvard by providing them with real-world experiences, according to the release. The first fellowships will be awarded in 2012 and will vary in size according to the type and scope of the project pursued by fellows.

The fund is endowed through a donation from Kenneth I. Juster ’76, the current managing director of private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Juster earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School prior to serving as Counselor of the U.S. State Department in the ’90s and as U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce from 2001 to 2005.

“One of my most valuable experiences while I was a Kennedy School student was the opportunity to work at the National Security Council in Washington, D.C., during the summer after my first year,” said Juster in a statement.

Juster added the Kennedy School had provided him with funding at the time, and that he was pleased to now get the opportunity to help students in a similar situation.

“I think it was pretty natural for him to follow [that path],” said Dean of the Kennedy School David T. Ellwood. “He knows that an understanding of international and governmental affairs is critical to our future.”

Ellwood added Juster has made significant contributions to the field of global affairs throughout his career.

—Staff writer Ariane Litalien can be reached at alitalien@college.harvard.edu.