Pamela Harriman Service Fellowships  (Text Only)

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Patriot, diplomat, philanthropist, friend of the arts, and mentor to a generation of public servants, Pamela Harriman's accomplishments continue to inspire those who succeed her.  French Prescient Jacques Chirac praised her keen understanding of world affairs and dedication to her country in February 1997, stating:  "Seldom since Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson has America been so well served in France."

He also conferred upon the late Ambassador Frances' highest honor, The Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.  Ambassador Harriman, who liked to say she was "An American by choice," represented America with wisdom, grace, and dignity.  Her legacy will be continued with these fellowships that bear her name -- and extend her public service by encouraging others to serve their nation.

PAMELA HARRIMAN's BIOGRAPHY

Comments by Arthur Schlesinger. Jr.

Pamela Harriman was one of the remarkable women of the twentieth century.  Her designation in 1993 as the United States ambassador to France was the culmination of a varied and vivid career.
       Relations between France and the United States were sometimes prickly in the nineteen-nineties.  Mrs. Harriman prepared for her appointment by spending long hours with our best academic specialists on France.  This was typical of the disciplined and conscientious approach that, accompanied by linguistic skills, unflagging energy and remarkable charm, made her an effective representative of her adopted country.
       "She made herself," wrote the commentator William Pfaff from Paris in the International Herald Tribune, "the most successful American political ambassador of the decade."  After her death in 1997, the French president Jacques Chirac, calling her "a great ambassador of the United States and a grand lady,"  conferred on her posthumously Frances's highest award, a Legion of Honor medal.  President Clinton and Vice President Gore spoke at her funeral in the National Cathedral in Washington.
       Pamela Harriman had long appreciated the importance of public service.  She felt that foreign service in particular offered young people a unique opportunity to inform and fulfill themselves while serving their country.  That is why the College of William and Mary, an institution Pamela Harriman had long befriended, honored her by establishing the Pamela Harriman Foreign Service Fellowships.
       History had educated Pamela Harriman in the transcendent significance of public service in a democracy.  She was born in 1930 to an old English county family.  Marriage to Randolph Churchill in 1939 thrust her into the center of the British government during the Second World War.  Winston Churchill encouraged Pamela's genuine absorption in public affairs, intelligent curiosity, an instinct for people and a steely determination to do any job.
       In the late nineteen fifties she came to the United States and in 1960 married Leland Hayward, the theatrical agent and producer.  After his death she married Averell Harriman, whom she had first met in London during the war.  Harriman, a leading diplomat of his generation as well as a former governor of New York and a force in the Democratic party, completed her education in diplomacy and politics.  Accompanying her husband on his foreign travels until his death in 1986, Pamela Harriman met world leaders on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
       Acquiring American citizenship and established in Washington, Pamela Harriman was a founder and chairman of Democrats for the 80s, a political action committee.  As an influential political activist, she was among the first to bring to Washington a then little known governor of Arkansas, William Jefferson Clinton.
     Her abiding concern was foreign affairs and world peace.  And she believed in the young.  "It is you," she once said, "the young people just entering public service, to whom we look to forge new paths of understanding among the nations of the world."

PROFESSIONAL & SERVICE EXPERIENCE

United States Ambassador to France    Honorary Trustee and Honorary Member of the Executive Committee of the Brookings Institution    Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council  Member of the Council on Foreign Relations    Trustee of Rockefeller University    Member of the Trustees Council of the National Gallery of Art    Member of the Board of the Friends of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies    Member of the Advisory Council of the W. Averell Harriman Institute at Columbia University    Vice President of the English-Speaking Union of the United States    Member of the Board of Directors of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute    Honoree, National Mental Health Association    Member of the Board of Directors, Green Door    Trustee of the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States    Founder and Chairman, Democrats for the 80's    Member of the Commission on Presidential Debates    Chairman, Quarterly Policy Issues Forum, Democratic Governors Association    National Co-Chair, Clinton/Gore Campaign    At-Large Member of the Democratic National Committee    Vice President, New York Horticultural Society    President, Middleburg Hunt    Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, Columbia University    Philanthropist

College of William & Mary:

Member, The Board of Visitors, 1986-1990    Benefactor, The Pamela Harriman Professorship of Government and Public Policy    Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, 1996    Charter Day Speaker, 1996    Host of the William & Mary Choir at the Ambassador's Residence in Paris    Sponsor, Thomas Jefferson Project at the Ambassador's Residence in Paris    Cofounder of the Sarah Ives Gore Childcare Center

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ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP:  

The Fellowship

       The College of William and Mary established the Pamela Harriman Foreign Service Fellowships to inspire the best of a new generation to pursue careers in public service.  The Awards are offered annually to three outstanding undergraduates from across the nation.
    Each student will be given the opportunity to spend a summer in a professional position with the United Stats Department of State.The three fellowship posts pay tribute to chapters of the Ambassador's life:

The Embassy in London, in the country of her birth;
The Embassy in Paris, where she served as Ambassador to France;
The Office of the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C., in the country she served with great distinction.

       The Harriman Fellowship Program is nationally competitive and highly selective.  Offering an eleven-week service opportunity, as well as a $5,000 stipend for travel and living expenses.  While one fellowship is reserved for a student at The College of William and Mary, the other two fellowships are open to eligible juniors and seniors throughout the United States.
       Ambassador Harriman set a standard that the Harriman Fellowships now challenge young Americans to meet.  United States Ambassador to Japan and Former Speaker of the House Thomas Foley said of her:  She made a great contribution to public life by her example, energy and devotion, and her belief in the honor of work for one's country."

Application Process

       Fellowship applications are distributed to colleges and universities across the country in August of each year, with a November application deadline.  Upon submission, The Department of State makes an evaluation on the basis of the application, statement of interest, transcripts, foreign language ability when applicable, and completed academic studies relevant to the type of work each applicant hopes to perform.  
     The Department of State forwards the list of qualifying candidates to The College of William and Mary.  The College collaborates with the Harriman Fellowship Advisory Committee to review the pool of candidates.  Approximately nine finalists, chosen upon completion of a security clearance, are interviewed by the selection committee in Washington, D.C., and notified of the committee's decision soon thereafter.  Three Harriman Fellows commence their eleven weeks of service in either May or June.
     Upon completion of their service, Fellows are required to prepare a summary report to the Chair of the Harriman Fellowship Advisory Committee.  In order to promote a deeper understanding of international relations, Fellows are additionally required to deliver a presentation to their college about their service experiences.

Participating Schools

Selection Criteria

Timetable

Aug

 

 US Department of State Internship Program applications distributed to Colleges and Universalities; applications also available on the State Department Website.

General information about the State Department can be found at http://www.state.gov

Specific internship application information and forms can be found at http://www.state.gov/www/careers/rinterncontents.html
Nov 1 Postmark deadline for (State Department) receipt of Internship applications.  Please double-check this date with the State Department posting; it is listed her as a guide, not as absolute.
Feb

State Department completes most intern selections, notifies summer interns.  (Sometimes interns are selected by the State Department late in the spring; the Harriman program cannot invite applications from State Department interns selected after the Harriman selection process has begun.)

State Department notifies Harriman Program Office of intern selections for Paris, London and Washington.
Feb-Mar Security Clearance of interns conducted by State Department.
Feb  Harriman Office notifies eligible candidates and invites them to apply for the Harriman award.  Complete instructions for application content and deadline are supplied to Harriman candidates.  Interns selected and notified by the State Department after this point are not eligible for Harriman award.
Mar Harriman finalists selected.
Mar-Apr Harriman finalists interview in Washington D.C. Harriman Fellows selected and notified.
May-June Service ad duty post begins.
Aug Service ends.
Fall Presentation of report by Harriman interns at the annual fall meeting of the Harriman Advisory Council

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ADVISORY BOARD:  

Harriman Advisory Board Members

Donor Information

Please send inquiries and donations to harriman@wm.edu

 

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PAST RECIPIENTS:  

SUMMER 2000

Derek Smith, a senior government major at Harvard University, has been selected to serve as the Fellow at the Office of the Secretary of State in Washington, DC.  A graduate of Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, MD, Derek has distinguished himself as one of the finest students in his class.  Elected to Phi Beta Kappa and a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship, Drek's leadership qualities extend beyond the classroom.  Music director, arranger, and soloist for an a capella group, he founded and led a barbershop quartet, rowed on the Harvard Freshmen Crew Team and composes chamber music.  He is currently completing his senior honors thesis on the proliferation of dual-use satellite systems.  Derek's postgraduate plans include completing an International Relations M. Phil. at Oxford University followed by law school.

Akash Desai, a senior political science major at the University of Rochester, has been selected to serve as the Fellow at the United States Embassy in London.  Akash, a graduate of Cortland High School in Cortland, NY, joins the program with a strong record of academic achievement, including his current thesis on Indian-American political participation.  He has organized a number of community service projects, most notably the firs National Gandhi Day of Service at the University of Rochester, and is on the school's debate team.  His experience includes an internship with the Department of State in the Bureau of European Affairs, and a semester serving as a research assistant in the House of Commons of the British Parliament.  After graduation, Akash plans to enroll in law school and pursue a master's degree in international studies.

Rachel Ziemba, a junior history major at the University of Chicago, has been selected to serve as the Fellow at the United States Embassy in Paris.  Rachel, a graduate of the Crofton House School in Vancouver, Canada, is well-suited for her Paris fellowship post.  She spent a winter at the University of Chicago's French Language and Western Civilization program in Tours, France studying French language, culture, and history.  Rachel has prior experience with the Department of State as an intern in Toronto, where she did market research for American companies.  At the University of Chicago, Rachel has been a member of the Model United Nations group.  Active in community service, she brings her Model UN experience to youth through United People, an outreach program that explains the purpose of the United Nations.  Rachel tutors area children in Latin as a means of helping them with reading and writing and teaches the fundamentals of art to fifth graders.  After graduation in 2001, Rachel expects to attend graduate school in history.

Alternates:

Rebecca Weitz, Princeton University
Sara Rainwater, Middle Tennessee State University
Jai Nair, Harvard University

SUMMER 2001

Elizabeth Grimm, a junior at the College of William and Mary, has been selected to serve as the fellow at the United States embassy in Paris.  A graduate of Franklin Regional Senior High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth entered William and Mary with the prestigious recognition, Monroe Scholar.  Awarded the Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship, she is the only undergraduate "ambassadorial scholar."  While at the College, Elizabeth has served as a committee chair of the International Relations club, committee chair of the Bone Marrow Drive, Student Alumni Liaison Council, founding member of a Habitat for Humanity in Pennsylvania, and a English tutor during her semester abroad at the University of Nancy II, while maintaining an outstanding academic performance.  Her research projects include a summer internship examining the potential impact of closing Eastern State Hospital-the first public psychiatric hospital in the country.  Upon graduation, in 2002, Elizabeth hopes to enter a joint graduate program, earning both a law degree and Masters in International Affairs, followed by a career in the Foreign Service.

Jennifer Shaloff, a senior at the University of Maryland, has been selected to serve as Fellow at the United States Embassy in London, England.  Jennifer, a graduate of Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, joins the program with a strong background in service, including work with The Program for Survivors of  Torture and Severe Trauma with the Center for Multicultural Human Services.  Her experience includes an internship as a Research Assistant at the World Resources Institute, an internship for the Office of Congressman Sanford Bishop, and an internship with the Bureau of European Affairs, specifically with Nordic and Baltic Countries.  At the University of Maryland, Jennifer's research combines international awareness with her curiosity in world health, including extensive involvement with Dr. Martin Heisler's paper, "The Conceptual and Empirical Attenuation of Loyalty,"  published in the Journal of the National Institute of Health, and her senior honors thesis on "Deconstructing the German and French Response to Jory Haider and the Freedom Party of Austria."  After graduation in 2001, Jennifer expects to attend graduate school in Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Stephanie Molnar, a senior at Seton Hall University, has been selected to serve as the Fellow to the Department of State in Washington, DC.  Stephanie, a graduate of Lacey Township High School on Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey, joins the program with a strong record of academic achievement, with an ambitious double major in social and behavioral science and a triple minor in political science, Spanish, and criminal justice.  She has kept an equally challenging array of community service projects, serving as a volunteer in the DC Reads Tutorial Program, Madison Avenue Baptist Church Homeless Shelter, New York Cares Day of Service, and Seton Hall University Day of Service.  For her efforts, Stephanie received the Seton Hall Servant Leader of the Century Award.  This summer, she will complete her second internship with the Department of State, the first in the Bureau of Narcotics and now as an intern for the Office of Counter Terrorism.  A highlight of her undergraduate service record included a trip sponsored by DOVE for an international service project to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.  After graduation in 2001, Stephanie plans to enroll in graduate school in International Affairs, with a concentration in International Security. 

Alternates:

Tamela Woods, Spelman College
Donovan Maust, College of William & Mary
Rosemary Kelanic, Bryn Mawr

 

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