News and Announcements

Rosenthal Fellowship Announces 2013 Fellowship Class

 

The Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations and its partner, the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), announce the selection of twenty-three fellows for Summer 2013.  The Fellowship provides graduate students at APSIA member schools the opportunity to spend a summer working on international relations related issues in the US   government Executive Branch or the Congress.

Established in 1977 in memory of Harold Rosenthal, a Congressional staffer and victim of international terrorism while on official duty, the program has hosted 204 Fellows to date.  Since the inception of the Rosenthal Fellowship, many Rosenthal Fellows have also participated as EVP Fellows in The European Union Visitors Program (EVP).

In a joint statement, Leigh Morris Sloane, Executive Director of APSIA, and Rick Gilmore, Chairman of the Rosenthal Fellowship, said, “The program’s success depends first and foremost on the outstanding caliber of our fellows, the extraordinary support we receive from host offices in the Congress and Executive Branch, APSIA member school support, and the generous contributions and support of our Board, donor institutions, and longstanding friends of the program. The Fellowship is living proof that terrorism cannot overwhelm the human spirit.  We’re a program whose purpose is to provide exceptional students with unique  gov ernment experience. They are our future leaders in new approaches to problem solving in international relations.”  The program is particularly pleased to continue its collaboration with the Robertson Foundation for Government and welcomes its support of four Fellowships. We also take great pride in the Alumni Advisory Council, and the Rosenthal Roundtables where recognized experts and practitioners in international relations address Rosenthal and Robertson fellows and alumni.

This year’s Fellows represent 14 APSIA schools and will intern at the Departments of Defense, Labor, State, Homeland Security, Treasury, USAID, and in committees and individual offices of Members of Congress.

Run in association with APSIA, the Rosenthal Fellowship receives support from a number of individual donors as well as the Robertson Foundation for Government, the Rotary Foundation and, previously, from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.  Fellows are current graduate students in international affairs nominated by their schools and are both  US   citizens and foreign nationals.  Former Senator and Vice President, Fritz Mondale, serves as honorary chairman of the Fellowship.

2013 Rosenthal Fellows and Host Offices

Nate Allen, Department of State, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Africa Operations Office

Nate is a student of international relations at Princeton 's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is interested in U.S. policies towards Africa and the Middle East , with an emphasis on developing strategies to deal with cross-cutting development and national security issues. Nate earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Swarthmore College in 2008.

Jack Bianchi, Department of the Treasury, Office of Investment Security

Jack is an M.A. Candidate at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) where he is concentrating in China Studies and International Economics. Prior to attending SAIS , he was a Political Researcher at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Washington , DC . He has studied abroad in Beijing and Taipei and has advanced proficiency in Mandarin Chinese. Jack graduated magna cum laude from Boston College in 2008 with a B.A. in International Studies. 

Kent Boydston, State Department, Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs/Korea Desk

Kent is a master’s candidate and Robertson Fellow at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) at the University of California , San Diego .  His interests include foreign policy, economic development, and Korea studies.  Prior to coming to IR/PS he taught English in South and North Korea and interned for the National Council for International Visitors in Washington, DC. He earned his B.A. in Political Science with honors from the University of California , Irvine in 2008.

Marissa Cramer, Department of Labor, Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking

Marissa is a student of International Affairs, with specializations in International Security and the Middle East, at Sciences Po (Paris), where she holds an Emile-Boutmy scholarship. Previously, she was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Rabat, Morocco, and worked as a Fellow at UN Watch, a human rights NGO in Geneva, Switzerland, and as a Research Assistant for Professor Amitai Etzioni at The George Washington University. She earned her B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University with honors and distinction, and speaks Arabic, French, and Hebrew.

Callum Forster , U.S. House of Representatives, Office of Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA)

Callum Forster is an M.A. Candidate in International Studies at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.  Callum specializes in the management of conflict in deeply divided societies, particularly those emerging from civil war. He received his undergraduate degree in International Relations from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. At St Andrews he was awarded the Nisbet Prize for International Relations.

Cristina Garafola, Department of the Treasury, U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Office

Cristina is a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies ( SAIS ) interested in the ramifications of China 's rise for its global status and its relationship with the United States .  Before SAIS , she spent a year at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, and she has previously worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State.

Quinton Jones, Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Afghan Transition Team

Quinton is pursuing a Master’s degree in International Affairs at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University where he is a Robertson Fellow. His interests include U.S. defense policy and intelligence. Quinton earned his Bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in 2012.

David L. Knoll, Department of Defense, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia

David is a doctoral candidate in International Relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University .  His dissertation focuses on the diffusion of innovations amongst non-state armed groups with case studies focused on Southwest Asia .  David graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs and religious studies and holds a master’s degree from the Fletcher School in Security Studies and Southwest Asia .

Wes Kovarik , U.S. House of Representatives, Office of Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA)

Wes is a concurrent J.D. and M.A. student at the University of Washington School of Law and Jackson School of International Studies. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego in International Studies, with a minor in European History. His focus is on international and comparative law, international security, arms control, and US foreign policy. 

Sonya Kuki, Council of Women Leaders/ de Klerk Foundation, S. Africa

Sonya is a Master’s candidate at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University , with a focus on international security policy and East Asia .  Originally from Hilo, Hawai’i , Sonya received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California in International Relations-Global Business with a minor in East Asian Languages and Cultures.  Her primary area of interest is U.S. foreign policy and security policy in East Asia .

Alison Laporte-Oshiro, Department of Defense, Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict, Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations

Alison is a Master in Public Policy candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School , with a focus on international security.  Prior to graduate school, she worked for the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington , DC and Save the Children in Manila, the Philippines.  Alison received her B.A. from Princeton University, where she majored in Public & International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School. 

Alan Leonard , U.S. Senate, Office of Senator Harry Reid, D-NV

Alan is a Johnson Fellow at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. A Global Policy Studies candidate, his interests relate to international security, energy and environmental issues. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago.

John Speed Meyers, Department of State, Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs

An MPA candidate at the Woodrow Wilson School , John Speed studies international relations and the U.S. response to China 's development. After graduating from Tufts University , he worked at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a defense think tank.

Dan Mingrone, Department of Defense, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia - Russia Policy

Dan is a master's candidate at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University , where he is focusing on International Security Studies and Pacific Asia.  His specific interests include cybersecurity and nuclear non-proliferation, which he hopes to merge with his background studying the Korean peninsula. He graduated from McGill University in 2005 with a B.A. in Psychology.

Emily Mullins, Department of State; Embassy of the United States in La Paz, Bolivia

Emily is a master’s candidate at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University , where she focuses on National Security and Diplomacy.  She is also a 2013 Robertson Fellow.  An avid equestrian, Emily worked as a program manager at the Granxa Do Souto training facility in Spain.  Her bachelor’s in international studies is also from Texas A&M.

Tiera Rainey, U.S. Institute of Peace

Tiera is a graduate student at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.  Past internships include the U.S. Department of State and the National Security Archive.  Tiera has also spent time teaching English to young students in Taiwan and Costa Rica. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Hispanic Studies from Vassar College .

Warren Ryan, U.S. Institute of Peace

Warren Ryan is a graduate student at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he is concentrating in International Relations and Security. Warren has previously served with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Khartoum, Sudan, where he worked on issues ranging from democracy and governance to conflict mitigation and humanitarian assistance.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Politics from Georgetown University.

Toku Sakai, Department of Defense, Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict, Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations

Toku is a master’s candidate at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he specializes in Strategic Studies and international Finance.  Previously he has worked in Japan at the Okinawa Peace Assistance Center, and as a Risk Management Analyst in Tokyo.  Toku has a bachelor’s degree in business from Northwestern University .

Ido Sivan Sevilla , U.S. House of Representatives, Office of Representative Ami Bera (D-CA)

Ido, Originally from Israel , is a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Minnesota, Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He is doing his Master's in Public Policy with a focus on International Relations and National Security. Prior to his masters, Ido graduated with highest honors from the Technion, Israel's top university, where he earned his Bachelor’s in Computer Science. He has experience in military, government and corporate settings and spent 8 years at the Israeli Air Force and at the Prime Minister Office in the Israeli Government.

Travis Sharp, Department of Defense, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy

Travis is an MPA candidate at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He also serves as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves. Prior to graduate school, he spent six years working at national security policy think tanks in Washington DC, including most recently as a research fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Travis has a BA in U.S. history and politics from the University of San Francisco .

Justinas Sileikis, Department of Defense, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict, Counternarcotics

Justinas is a master's candidate at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University , focusing on International Security Studies and International Political Economy. His studies are centered upon the implications of the changing nature of conflict in the 21st century, specifically the role of belligerent non-state actors in weak and failing states. Prior to Fletcher, Justinas was an analyst with Cubic Applications Inc., a contractor to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, where he helped design and assess U.S. military exercises in North America and Asia . He received his bachelor's degree in political science from The College of the Holy Cross.

Kelly Steffen , U.S. Agency for International Development, Africa Bureau Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Kelly is a dual Master's of Business Administration and Global Policy Studies candidate at the University of Texas at Austin where she specializes in technology and international development, respectively. Kelly earned both a Bachelor of Science in economics and Bachelor of Arts in International Relations at Michigan State University.  Prior to graduate school, Kelly worked at IBM Global Business Services in Washington , DC, as a consultant for the federal sector.  

Eli Yani, Department of State, Bureau of Legislative Affairs 

Eli is a Master’s of Political International Affairs candidate specializing in international politics and China studies at the UCSD School of International Relations and Pacific Studies where he is a Robertson Fellow.  He is interested in international security, U.S. electoral politics, and U.S.-Sino relations.  Eli graduated from UC Davis with Bachelor’s degrees in political science and classics in 2011.