LUCE SCHOLARS PROGRAM

DESCRIPTION:

The Henry Luce Foundation annually selects eighteen Luce Scholars in various fields to participate in one-year internships in the Far East. The Luce Scholars Program, established in 1974, is built around individual internships and work/study arrangements developed by representatives of the Asia Foundation and based on the participants' career interests and preparation. Rather than offer training for future Asia specialists, this program concentrates exclusively on providing an intensive experience in Asia to young Americans from other fields who would not otherwise expect to have such an opportunity during the normal course of their careers. Placements can be made in the following countries in East and Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, China and Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

While some Scholars have been affiliated with Asian universities in teaching or research capacities, none of the participants is formally enrolled as a student in a college or university and no academic credit is offered. The range of assignments is extraordinarily broad. Although each Scholar's placement provides a professional venue and perspective, the assignments themselves should be viewed as a mechanism through which to gain a broader understanding and appreciation of the culture in which one is living. Specific placements have included an architectural firm in Tokyo, a forestry project in Indonesia, a training facility for public administration in Malaysia, a master gardener in Kyoto, a community medicine project in the Philippines, and a banking authority in Singapore.

Luce Scholars receive from the Luce Foundation transportation, insurance, and a monthly stipend through the period of their participation sufficient to meet all normal expenses in Asia. Additional cost-of-living and housing allowances may be provided to participants in certain locations. Although they may occupy professional positions in Asian institutions or agencies as part of their assignment, Luce Scholars receive no compensation from their local sponsors.

ELIGIBILITY AND SELECTION CRITERIA:

Yale is invited to nominate three candidates to the national competition. Eligible are graduating Seniors, graduate and professional school students, recent graduates, and junior faculty. Nominees must be U.S. citizens who by September 1 of the year in which they would enter the program will be no more than twenty-nine years of age and will have earned a bachelor's degree. Nominees will be considered ineligible if they have a professed career interest in or have taken as their area of academic concentration Asian affairs. (The general interest that a course or two in Asian studies would represent is not grounds for disqualification.) In addition, nominees will be considered ineligible if they have had significant exposure to Asia--whether through service in the Peace Corps, a period of foreign study or residence in Asia, extensive travel in that region, or through other means.

Candidates must possess a mature and clearly defined career interest in a specific field and evince strong motivation and potential for professional accomplishment within that field. Candidates should also demonstrate a record of high academic achievement, outstanding leadership ability, more than usual openness to new ideas, and sensitivity to their fellow human beings. Candidates will not be judged on the basis of whether they have developed specific plans for the Asian experience, although they may have a program in mind. The single most important consideration is that a candidate gives evidence of potential for leadership and accomplishment, both within a chosen profession and as a member of the broader American community. Financial need is not a criterion for selection.

Nominees are invited for personal interviews by representatives of the Luce Foundation in December and January; finalists are interviewed again in late February and early March.

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT:

Interested applicants should schedule an appointment with Linda De Laurentis, Director of the Fellowship Program, 203-432-8685. No appointments can be made by e-mail. For the schedule of open hours and appointment times, visit our Staff Schedules page.

APPLICATION INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS:

Detailed information is available on the Luce Foundation web site. Yale students and alumni must contact IEFP for access to the online application (iefp.fellowships@yale.edu). Application packets are also available at IEFP, 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd floor, Room 309. A complete Yale application includes four (4) copies (original plus three (3) copies) of each of the following items:

• A completed Luce Scholars Program biographic information form and address information card.
• A signed, typewritten personal statement of no more than 1,000 words outlining: a) the applicant's long-range career interests, how they have developed, and how he or she plans to pursue them in the future; and b) the applicant's reasons for applying to the Luce Scholars Program.

And one (1) copy of the following:

• A Student Grants & Fellowships Database registration page. (Learn "How to Register" here.)
• Four letters of recommendation. Letters should be typewritten and represent academic, professional, and personal references. IEFP has prepared a resource to help candidates procure letters of recommendation (.doc).

NOTE: Applicants selected as University nominees to the national competition must also submit two recent passport-size photographs (black and white preferred). The nominee's name should be printed on the back of both pictures.

Applications and supporting materials must be received by 12:00 pm, noon, on Thursday, October 25, 2007. Post to:

Luce Scholars Program Committee

c/o Office of International Education & Fellowship Programs

55 Whitney Avenue, 3rd floor, Room 309

Box 208351 Yale Station

New Haven, CT 06520-8351

TRANSCRIPT INFORMATION

Yale College Students:

For the initial campus competition, the Office of International Education & Fellowship Programs will obtain unofficial transcripts for all applicants. However, for the ensuing national competition, nominees must request official transcripts from the Yale College Registrar (to be ordered through IEFP). One copy of an official transcript (sent directly to IEFP) is also required from any other institution attended for post-secondary studies.

Graduate and Professional School Students:

For the initial campus competition, applicants must request official college and graduate transcripts from the appropriate Registrar's office (to be sent directly to the Luce Scholars Program Committee, c/o IEFP). Only one official copy of each transcript is required.

This page last updated on February 27, 2008.