AIP FYI #141: Fellowship Opportunities: State Department, Congress, and White House
THIS IS A REMINDER – all application materials for the AIP State
Department Science Fellowship MUST BE POSTMARKED BY NOVEMBER 1!
This program is open to qualified members of the ten AIP Member
Societies and enables scientists to spend a year working in the U.S.
Department of State and contributing to the nation’s foreign
policy. Please see our Fellowship web site at
http://www.aip.org/gov/sdf.html for details on this program and how
to apply.
As AIP prepares for the upcoming State Department Science Fellowship
selection, we would also like to alert our readers to other
Fellowship opportunities that they might find of interest. While
AIP will NOT be sponsoring a Congressional Science Fellow for the
2005-6 year, three of our physics-related Member Societies have
Congressional Science Fellowship programs: The American Physical
Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the Optical Society of
America (which sponsors two Congressional Fellowships jointly with
the Materials Research Society and the International Society for
Optical Engineering). Application deadlines for these Fellowships
usually fall in or near January of the year the Fellowship will
start; please see the individual program web sites for application
requirements, deadlines, and other information on each of these
programs:
The American Physical Society:
http://www.aps.org/public_affairs/fellow/
The American Geophysical Union:
http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/policy/sci_pol.html
The Optical Society of America:
http://www.osa.org/publicpolicy/fellowships/
Another Fellowship opportunity which readers might find of interest
is the White House Fellows program. This prestigious Fellowship is
intended to provide a unique educational experience to exceptional
candidates who may be the nation’s future leaders and policymakers.
The White House Fellows program is now accepting applications for
its 2005-6 Fellowship term.
According to the web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/fellows/), the
purpose of the White House Fellows program is “to provide gifted and
highly motivated young Americans with some first-hand experience in
the process of governing the Nation and a sense of personal
involvement in the leadership of society.”
The White House Fellows program was established by President Lyndon
Johnson in 1964, and is strictly non-partisan. Although there are
no age requirements, it seeks relatively young professionals who
have already demonstrated an outstanding record of achievement in
their careers. Between 11 and 19 applicants are selected annually
to serve in this one-year Fellowship, “working as full-time, paid
special assistants to senior White House Staff, the Vice President,
Cabinet Secretaries and other top-ranking government officials,” the
web site states. Fellows also receive a one-of-a-kind educational
experience “consisting of roundtable discussions with renowned
leaders from the private and public sectors, and trips to study U.S.
policy in action both domestically and internationally.” White
House Fellows have the chance to meet with “dozens of individuals
including Supreme Court Justices, Cabinet Secretaries, senior White
House officials, Members of Congress, military leaders, journalists,
historians, business executives, and foreign heads of state.”
Candidates for the White House Fellowships are expected to show “a
record of remarkable professional achievement early in one’s
career,” evidence of “leadership skills and the potential for
further growth,” a “demonstrated commitment to public service,” and
“the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute successfully at
the highest levels of the federal government.” Applicants must be
U.S. citizens with at least an undergraduate education, and be
“working in their chosen professions.” They must be eligible to
receive a security clearance for the Fellowship. Federal government
employees are not eligible except for career military personnel.
The White House Fellowship term runs from September 1 to August 31.
Regional finalists are selected and interviewed in the spring; those
chosen as national finalists are invited to Washington, D.C. in June
for several days of interviews with the President’s Commission on
White House Fellowships. Those candidates selected as Fellows will
then interview with government agency officials for placements, and
their placements are determined by the Director of the President’s
Commission on White House Fellowships in consultation with the
agency officials. White House Fellows receive salary and benefits
from the agency in which they work, and may not receive any outside
compensation during the Fellowship year.
In return for this one-of-a-kind experience, it is hoped that
Fellows will continue to demonstrate a commitment to public service,
and will become leaders in their respective communities.
Applications for the 2005-6 White House Fellowship term will be
accepted from September 2004 through FEBRUARY 1, 2005. Interested
readers are encouraged to check the White House Fellowships web site
at http://www.whitehouse.gov/fellows/ for the application form and
the latest application and submission information.
Past White House Fellows include Colin Powell, Secretary of State
and former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Wesley Clark, General,
U.S. Army (retired), Chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark and
Associates and former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; Elaine Chao,
Secretary of Labor, former President and CEO of the United Way of
America and former Director of the Peace Corps; and Timothy Wirth,
President of the United Nations Foundation and former Senator and
Undersecretary for Global Affairs; as well as several current and
former Members of Congress and other leaders in government and
industry.
Each of these Fellowships is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for
bright and highly-motivated individuals to perform a public service
and spend a year gaining firsthand knowledge of, and making a unique
contribution to, the workings of the U.S. government
Audrey T. Leath
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi@aip.org
www.aip.org/gov
(301) 209-3094
