The Carlos Slim Scholarship

The George Washington University is pleased to accept applications for The Carlos Slim Scholarship, the result of a partnership between the Fundacion Carlos Slim and the university. The Carlos Slim Scholarship creates an elite leadership development initiative for Mexico’s very best graduate students in the disciplines of engineering, business, and international affairs.

Mr. Carlos Slim is an international business leader committed to improving the human condition by alleviating poverty, improving healthcare, and investing in Mexico’s young scholars. The George Washington University enjoys an outstanding, international academic reputation and a unique location in the heart of the US nation’s capital.

The Slim Scholars’ focus will be global with a special emphasis on issues relevant to Mexico’s leadership role in the world. Slim Scholars will have the opportunity to build relationships with George Washington leadership, international economic institutions, and influential political and thought leaders while gaining practical skills to prepare them for leadership responsibilities in Mexico.

Among the benefits Slim Scholarship recipients will enjoy:

• An assigned advisor to guide educational experience
• A mentor to oversee practical experience
• Two additional elective courses
• Full access to graduate career development offices
• Intense leadership training and team-building activities

Additional hands-on learning will be provided via special summer internships, travel opportunities to key US cities, and a variety of culturally enriching programs. These intellectually robust experiences will help students understand the significance of leadership and communication in influencing public policy on many fronts, including immigration, healthcare, and poverty.

Selection Criteria:

1. The recipient must be a graduate student that has applied for admission in a graduate program in the School of Business, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or the Elliott School of International Affairs
2. The recipient must be a citizen of the country of Mexico
3. The recipient must have a meritorious academic record as evidenced by his/her undergraduate GPA and as measured by her/his performance on relevant entrance exams
4. The recipient must have demonstrated prior leadership experience either in their career or through undergraduate activities.
5. The recipient may be required to successfully complete an interview process.

To learn more about specific program application deadlines contact:

-Dr. Javier Antonio Elguea, President , Technological Institute, TELMEX, Parque Via 190-piso 15, Col.        Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F. CP 06599, P: 5222-5312, JELGUEA@telmex.com

-Elliott School Graduate Admissions: 1957 E St., NW, Suite 301, Washington, DC 20052, USA, 202-994-7050, esiagrad@gwu.edu

Professor Robert Maguire

For Elliott School Professor Robert Maguire, a decision he made early in his life shaped not only his career path, but the mark he’s left on the world.

After completing a stint with the Peace Corps after earning his undergraduate degree in 1972, Dr. Maguire found himself in southern Louisiana researching the ethnography of African American Creole speakers for his Ph.D. Having learned the Creole language during his research, he was offered a job in Haiti with the Inter-American Foundation (IAF). This experience later led him to write the book Bottom-Up Development in Haiti.

Professor Maguire’s expertise in Haiti is already proving to be a valuable resource for his students. Last fall, he developed and taught a course titled “Post-Disaster Development: Haiti and Comparative Perspective.” Students examined development issues in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and compared them to those of other major natural disasters — including the 2004 tsunami in Asia and Hurricane Katrina.

Inspired by what they learned in class, a group of Professor Maguire’s students created Youth-Led Development Through Theatre in Rural Haiti. The organization helps Haitian youth explore their talents and carve out a future for themselves and their nation. With the guidance of Professor Maguire, who directs the Elliott School’s Latin American and Hemispheric Studies program, the group submitted a proposal to attend, and was chosen to participate in, the Clinton Global Initiative University at GW from March 30–April 1.

Having worked for the State Department before joining GW, Dr. Maguire continues to run a 20-week training seminar at the Foreign Service Institute for Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) going to Haiti. He also regularly participates in media interviews on issues related to Haiti. “I think it’s very important to have this type of information available at the disposal of the public and to try to help policymakers do a better job in their work,” he said.

In spite of its size, Professor Maguire says the country continues to influence policy in the western hemisphere. “As small as it is, Haiti has been, for one reason or another, a major foreign policy issue in the United States.” he said. “The future for Haiti — the one thing that is certain — is that Haiti is not going to go away.”

Using Science and Technology to Improve Health Globally

For Elliott School alumnus Guillermo Troya, serving as the country representative for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Suriname often presents him with situations that are tough to face. However, he says the work he does and change it produces keeps him going.

“It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to serve others and to contribute to building more inclusive societies with a human rights, gender, and equity approach,” said Dr. Troya via email from Suriname. “Being able to serve others fulfills my life.”

As a country representative for PAHO, which is part of the World Health Organization, Dr. Troya is in charge of overseeing the organization’s presence in Suriname. This entails managing resources, delivering technology in support of heath initiatives, representing the PAHO/WHO to the government of Suriname, and monitoring and supporting national efforts dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of the Surinamese people.

Prior to taking his current post, Dr. Troya spent the past 14 years with PAHO/WHO in the Caribbean. In March 1998, he started in Jamaica as a health systems and services advisor, and was later transferred to the PAHO/WHO country offices in Panama, Belize, and Trinidad & Tobago. During this time, his efforts were spent strengthening each nation’s health system.

Dr. Troya earned his Master of Arts degree in science and technology and public policy from the Elliott School after receiving his medical degree from the University of Ecuador. He says he chose medicine, and later public health, as his fields of work because he wanted to serve others. Choosing to study science and technology at GW offered him invaluable and important skills and to help improve health globally.

“It helped me better understand the importance of science and technology in the improvement of the quality of life and development, of scientific research and technology transfer in support of development efforts, and of evidence-based for decision making and policy making,” said Dr. Troya.

“In spite of new and growing challenges for public health like non-communicable diseases and violence, I am proud of the progress in life expectancy, elimination of diseases, and reduction of child mortality in the region of the Americas, the greatest within the developing world during the past two decades.”

Organization of International Development

The Organization of International Development (OID) is one of the Elliott School’s student orgs and is associated with the M.A. in International Development Studies (IDS).  They host round-table discussions, presentations, lectures, career workshops, film screenings, and social events.

Several OID members have shared their summer 2011 job and internship experiences.  Click here to see an interactive map with locations and descriptions.  Some of them also posted their summer adventures on the IDS blog.

On the sixth day of Elliott School

6 Continents for Studying

The Elliott School offers semester-long study abroad options at 18 partner institutions around the world.  We, unfortunately, haven’t found a university on Antarctica to partner with.

• American University of Beirut, Lebanon
• American University in Cairo , Egypt
• Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
• Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
• European University at St. Petersburg, Russia
• Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea
• Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
• Fudan University, Shanghai, China
• Graduate Institute of International & Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
• Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
• Maastricht University, Netherlands
• Sciences Po, Paris, France
• Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• University of Hong Kong, China
• Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
• University of Sydney, Australia
• University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
• Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Upcoming Events

Do you live in D.C.?  Are you planning a visit here?  Try incorporating some of our events into your day.  Take a look at the online calendar for details on each.

October 24-27

• The 1911 Revolution Remembered in 2011
• The Struggle For Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square, A Conversation with Steven A. Cook
• World Food Day and UN Day
• Film Screening: This Prison Where I Live (Burma)
• Go Abroad to Grad School-FU Berlin
• Corruption and Conflict
• Middle East Policy Forum: Turning Motion Picture into Emotion
• Inspiration Lecture Series: Sparking Social Change
• A Barrage of Grievances: Electoral Reform and Patterns of Ethnic Voting in Turkey

November 1-9

• Mexico’s Success Facing Global Economic Crisis
• Open House for Prospective Graduate Students
• After Tunisia’s Election
• Dealing with the Communist Past in a Unified Germany
• Views from the Frontlines: First Accounts from Burma’s Conflict Zones
• The Last Three Feet: New Media, New Approaches, and New Challenges for Public Diplomacy
• The Ozawa Prosecution and Japanese Democracy: The 2009 Amendments to the Prosecution Review Commission Law and Turmoil in the Democratic Party of Japan
• Ambassadors Forum: U.S.-Brazil Relations
• Arresting the Killer in the Kitchen: The Promises and Pitfalls of Commercializing Improved Cookstoves
• Rethinking the Cold War
• Middle East Policy Forum: The Israeli-Palestine Conflict: A Report from the Field
• Evolving Property Rights and Shifting Education Forms: Evidence from Join Venture Buyouts Following China’s WTO Ascension
• Film Screening: The Tempest
• 19th Annual Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium in the Korean Humanities
• Fifty Years of the Peace Corps in Asia: Voices from the Field
• Women and Mars Conference
• Falling Back to Earth Book Discussion
• U.S. Intelligence and Foreign Policy: Current Issues
• The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall: Perspectives on the Wall Fifty Years After It Was Built