Student Profiles: Victoria Lewis-Young

WOODROW WILSON FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 2013 FOREIGN AFFAIRS FELLOWS
U.S. State Department program supports preparation of future Foreign Service Officers
 
PRINCETON, N.J. (May 20, 2013)—This fall, Spelman senior Victoria Lewis-Young will be one of forty exceptional men and women will begin their journey towards representing America as Foreign Service Officers through the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowships.  After an intense selection process, the 2013 Pickering Fellows—20 Undergraduate Fellows and 20 Graduate Fellows—were identified as candidates with some of the skills crucial for members of the United States diplomatic corps: dedication, leadership, planning, cultural adaptability, and strong communication skills.
 
Administered for the U.S. Department of State by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, the Pickering Fellowships develop a source of men and women whose academic and professional backgrounds fulfill the skill needs of the State Department and who are dedicated to representing America’s interests abroad.
 
Selected in their junior year, the 20 Pickering Undergraduate Fellows will receive financial support towards tuition and other expenses during the senior year of college and the first year of graduate study. They are the 20th class of Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs Fellows.
 
Fellows in both programs participate in one domestic and one overseas internship. Upon the completion of their master’s degree, they commit to three years of service as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State. The Foreign Service, a corps of working professionals who support the President of the United States and the Secretary of State in advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad, are “front-line” personnel who can be sent anywhere in the world, at any time, in service to the diplomatic needs of the United States.
 
The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program is named in honor of one of the most distinguished and capable American diplomats of the latter half of the 20th century. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering holds the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest rank in the U.S. 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.