Fox International Fellowship Program Expands

New Haven, Conn. — With generous new gifts, three new university partners and the addition of an environmental studies focus, the Fox International Fellowship is well positioned to advance Yale President Richard C. Levin’s global vision for the University.

Joseph C. Fox, a member of the Yale College Class of 1938, has committed another $5 million to the Fox International Fellowship, a program of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS). With this new gift, Fox’s contributions to the Program total more than $15 million.

Separately, Benjamin Zucker, a member of the Yale College Class of 1962, has designated a portion of his gifts to Yale to support environmental studies as a field of research in the Fox Program. Both gifts coincide with three new partner institutions joining the program: Bogazici University (Turkey), Tel Aviv University (Israel) and the University of Cape Town (South Africa).

“These gifts will enable the Fox International Fellowship to continue to evolve as a unique and important Yale program with partnerships with premier universities around the world,” President Levin said. “We are honored to host the Fellowship at Yale, as it reflects and enhances Yale’s goal to become a truly global university—educating leaders and advancing the frontiers of knowledge, not simply for the United States, but for the entire world.”

Ian Shapiro, the Henry Luce Director of YCIAS, said, “Joe Fox has been extraordinarily generous over the years, and both he and his wife, Alison Barbour Fox, have been active in hosting the Fellows here at Yale. We are very grateful, not only for these gifts, but also for their personal involvement that has further distinguished the program.”

Bogazici University, formally established as a Turkish state university in 1971, has its origins in Roberts College, founded in 1863 as one of the first American colleges outside the United States. The academic strength of the institution encompasses disciplines in science and engineering, and also in the social sciences and humanities.

Tel Aviv University, the largest university in Israel, has consistently ranked as one of the top institutions of higher learning world-wide. Many members of its distinguished faculty have won international recognition and are considered leaders in their fields of research.

The University of Cape Town is South Africa’s oldest university, and is one of Africa’s leading teaching and research institutions. Apart from establishing itself as an outstanding academic institution, from 1960 to 1990 the university maintained sustained opposition to apartheid, particularly in higher education.

With the addition of these three new institutions, the Fox International Fellowship Program, established in 1988, now organizes student exchanges between Yale University and leading universities in 11 countries. The program identifies and further develops outstanding young men and women, both in the United States and abroad, whose leadership potential in a range of fields should enable them to contribute to peace and stability in the world. There are well over 200 Fox Fellowship alumni throughout the world, among them heads of business and philanthropic organizations, lawyers, journalists and scholars.

Initially, the Fellowships supported graduate student exchanges between Yale and Moscow State University (Russia). In addition to the three new institutions, the program includes similar arrangements with Sydney Sussex College at Cambridge University, (United Kingdom), the Free University of Berlin (Germany), Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (France), Fudan University (China), the University of Tokyo (Japan), El Colegio de Mexico (Mexico) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (India). It now includes extraordinarily promising students who have just completed their undergraduate education. The Fox Fellows’ fields of study reflect the areas around which many of the world’s major decisions revolve: law, economics, finance, business, political science, international relations, contemporary history and now environmental studies.

Fellows from Yale spend a year at a partner university, and Fellows from partner universities spend a year at Yale. As Fox Fellows, they have full use of the resources of the host university, allowing them to undertake research, work with faculty, utilize archives and library resources, audit courses, travel domestically for research purposes and interact with other students. All Fellows, both incoming and outgoing, are fully funded.

“The Fox International Fellowship Program supports and nurtures promising young scholars and future leaders while they pursue academic work in other countries and are immersed in the local language and culture,” said Fox. “It is my hope that the program give each Fellow the background to assess situations knowledgeably and the experience to make well-informed decisions in their later careers that will impact global policies, international relations and, ultimately, the cause of peace.”

A retired international investment banker and partner of Kidder, Peabody & Co., Fox has been extensively engaged in corporate, philanthropic and educational activities throughout his career. He is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and speaks three foreign languages. At Yale, he is a Sterling Fellow and a charter member of the President’s Council on International Activities.

Zucker is a well-known gem merchant in New York City and an author. His novels include “Blue and Green.” He also published “Gems and Jewels,” as well as five other books on the history of jewelry.

The Yale Center for International and Area Studies is the University’s principal center for encouraging and coordinating teaching and research on international affairs, societies and cultures around the world. It endeavors to make understanding the world outside the borders of the U.S. and America’s role in the world an integral part of the research, liberal education and professional training at Yale University. YCIAS administers six undergraduate majors, four Master’s degree programs and six Graduate Certificates of Concentration. It provides opportunities for scholarly research and intellectual innovation; encourages faculty and student interchange; brings international education and training to teaching professionals, the media, businesses and the community at large; sponsors more than 500 lectures, conferences, workshops and other activities each year and produces a range of academic publications.

Contact Information

Marilyn Wilkes

Yale University

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