Forty Juniors and Seniors Participate in Madeleine K. Albright Institute for Global Affairs Wintersession Program

January 12, 2015
Albright Fellows work together on their first assignment.

The 2015 Albright Institute Wintersession Program began on January 5, 2015, and runs through January 23, 2015. Later this month, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright ’59 will return to her alma mater to meet with the 40 Wellesley students selected as this year’s Albright Fellows. These young women will spend their winter break in an intensive, three-week course of collaborative, cross-discipinary work addressing world problems. They'll work directly with influential leaders, academics, policymakers, business executives, and journalists who make up the Institute faculty each year, representing a range of fields including science, engineering, sociology, political science, arts and literature, and economics.

The 2015 Albright Fellows comprise 23 juniors and 17 seniors, and represent 25 different majors at the College. The group includes 31 U.S. citizens (including one with dual citizenship) and eight international students. Overall, seven countries are represented: Canada, China, Ethiopia, Mexico, Myanmar, United Kingdom, and United States. (See list of fellows below.)

Joanne Murray, executive director of the Albright Institute, says, "Our topic this year is based on The Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda entitled A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development."

Drawing from what they learn during expert presentations and from their own multidisciplinary studies at Wellesley, the fellows team up in groups to develop and propose innovative solutions on the Program theme. They will present their work to the Institute’s distinguished visiting professor and Secretary Albright for critique and analysis in the final week of the Institute.

The 2015 distinguished visiting professor is Elizabeth Cousens, recently retired U.S. representative on the UN Economic and Social Council—a post she held since April 2012. Cousens previously served as principal policy advisor and counselor to the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Susan Rice, and before that she was director of strategy for The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Indeed, the former Rhodes Scholar has led a distinguished career in public service, serving with UN political missions in Nepal and the Middle East and working extensively on peacebuilding and development issues in conflict zones, in addition to leadership roles with the International Peace Institute and the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum.

Cousens, along with Homi Kharas, senior fellow and deputy director for the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution, will join Madeleine Albright on January 22 in a dialogue called Harnessing Consensus: Shaping the World's New Development Goals. The event is free and open to the public, and takes place at 4 p.m. in Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall Auditorium. Wellesley President H. Kim Bottomly will provide opening remarks.

2015 Albright Fellows

  • Andrea Aguilar ’16 – Political Science; Middle Eastern Studies
  • Emma Ambrogi ’16 – Chemistry
  • Hero Ashman ’16 – Economics; Political Science
  • Alex Azzi ’15 – American Studies
  • Caitlin Bailey ’16 – East Asian Studies
  • Charlotte Benishek ’16 – Environmental Studies
  • Melanie Chen ’16 – Chemistry
  • Catherine Coravos ’15 – Mathematics
  • Kate Corcoran ’15 – Environmental Studies
  • Taylor Cranor ’16 – Economics
  • Wenyan Deng ’15 – International Relations – Political Science; History
  • Priyanka Fouda ’16 – Economics; Philosophy
  • Talin Ghazarian ’16 – Middle Eastern Studies
  • Sarah Gontarek ’15 – Political Science; Electrical Engineering (MIT)
  • Gabi Guzman ’15 – Russian Area Studies; Environmental Studies
  • Helen Huang ’16 – International Relations – Economics
  • Sahar Ibrahim ’16 –Biological Sciences; Anthropology
  • Jasmyne Keimig ’16 – History
  • Elizabeth Kinsey’16 – Economics
  • Bridgette Lemoine ’15 – Philosophy
  • Loren Lock ’16 – Biological Sciences
  • Amelia McClure ’16 – Biological Sciences
  • Nina McKee’16 – Political Science
  • Zoe Moyer ’15 – Biochemistry; French Cultural Studies
  • Grace Oh ’15 – Art History; French Cultural Studies
  • Poe Oo ’15 – International Relations – Political Science
  • Mariya Patwa ’16 – Chemistry
  • Huijing (Josephine) Ren ’15 – Economics; Psychology
  • Mariajosé Rodríguez-Pliego ’16 – Economics; English
  • Hannah Ruebeck ’16 – Economics
  • Nikita Saladi ’16 – Neuroscience
  • Lydia Saltzbart ’15 – Political Science
  • Allison Steitz ’16 – Political Science
  • Chloe Stroman ’15 – English
  • Lindsey Tang '15 – Computer Science; Mathematics
  • Emma van den Terrell ’15 – Religion; Peace and Justice Studies
  • Charlotte Weiss ’16 – Spanish
  • Chloe Williamson ’16 – English
  • Lucy Zhu ’15 – Economics
  • Sabrina Zurga ’15 – Economics