PHILADELPHIA- University of Pennsylvania rising senior Autumn Patterson has won a 2012 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship. The Harrisburg, Pa., resident is among 20 undergraduates and 20 students entering master’s-degree programs selected to receive the award which was established to provide financial assistance to individuals preparing academically and professionally to enter the United States diplomatic corps.
The Fellowship is awarded for "dedication, initiative, integrity, cultural adaptability, communication skills and thorough intellectual background that it takes to become a U.S. Foreign Service officer."
At Penn, Patterson, who is majoring in political science, received the Association of Alumnae Scholars Rosemary D. Mazzatenta Award to support an internship with the U.S. embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
Pickering undergraduate Fellows selected in their junior year receive financial support towards tuition and other expenses during the senior year and during the first year of graduate study. Pickering graduate foreign affairs Fellows receive financial support towards a two-year, full-time master’s-degree program in fields such as public policy, international affairs, public administration or other academic fields such as business, economics, political science, sociology or foreign languages.
Fellows in both programs participate in one domestic and one overseas internship. They commit to three years of service as a Foreign Service officer for the State Department, contingent on passing the Foreign Service requirements.
The Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program is named in honor of Thomas R. Pickering who holds the rank of career ambassador, the highest in the Foreign Service. He served as ambassador to Nigeria, El Salvador, Israel, India and the Russian Federation, finishing his career in the Foreign Service as under secretary of state for political affairs.
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