The Bonderman Fellowship

History

The Bonderman Travel Fellowship program was created through a gift from David Bonderman, who earned his undergraduate degree in Russian from the University of Washington in 1963. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he received a Sheldon Fellowship that allowed him to travel internationally, an experience that had a profound impact on his life. Now a successful investment advisor, Mr. Bonderman provides opportunities to current UW students for similarly transformative travel experiences through the Fellowship program.

Description

The Bonderman Travel Fellowship program offers graduate students (including those in the Law and Business Schools and other graduate and professional programs) and undergraduate students in the University Honors Program and in UW Tacoma's Global Honors Program an opportunity to engage in independent exploration and travel abroad.

Bonderman Fellowships enable students to undertake independent international travel to explore, be open to the unexpected, and come to know the world in new ways. Because Bonderman Fellowships are intended to foster independence, Fellows may not participate in a program or organization, engage in formal study at a foreign university, conduct research or other academic projects, or travel with an organized group while carrying out the obligations of the fellowship. Bonderman Fellowships are intended to introduce students to cultures, peoples, and areas of the world with which they are not familiar. Preference will be given to candidates without extensive international travel experience.

Applying

Ideal Bonderman Fellows will have integrity, the capacity for vision and leadership, and the potential for humane and effective participation in the global community. An applicant should demonstrate initiative, commitment, and creativity in designing his or her proposed travel plan. The selection committee will consider the student's experience as well as curiosity and seriousness of purpose.

Keeping this information in mind, in your proposal please discuss why you want to undertake extended solo travel and how you think the experience will affect you. Include how you'll prepare to undertake such a journey, what challenges that you anticipate, and what impact your travels may have on the people and places you visit.

At the time of submission of your application, you must be an enrolled student in good standing in a graduate or professional degree program or a junior or a senior in good standing in the University Honors Program (either College or Departmental) or in the UW Tacoma Global Honors Program. Applicants must hold US citizenship or permanent residence status to be eligible. A committee of past Bonderman Fellows, faculty, and staff will review applications. Selected applicants will be invited for an interview, with final awards announced during spring quarter 2010.

(Information from: http://depts.washington.edu/uwhonors/scholarships/current/bonderman/ )