Meet the 2013 Albright Fellows

January 7, 2013

Forty promising young women from all over the world will spend the next few weeks learning to become effective global leaders. The women, a select group of Wellesley College juniors and seniors, are participants in The Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs (Albright Institute) Wintersession program. They will spend their Wintersession working with Institute faculty, Distinguished Visiting Professors Henry (“Hank”) Paulson and Wendy Judge Paulson ’69, and with Secretary Albright herself.

“We are witnessing a generational change in the American political scene,” said former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright '59 at the inaugural Institute in 2010. “This is the right time–and Wellesley is the right place–to help train a whole new group of women leaders.”

Secretary Albright will attend several days of the Institute to meet with the Fellows. She will also participate in a public dialouge about China and the United States in the 21st century on January 24 at 4:00 p.m. with Hank Paulson, and present a conversation about her book Prague Winter on January 25 at 10 a.m. Both events will be held in the Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall Auditorium and are free and open to the public.

The Albright Institute Wintersession program is an intensive, three-week session held annually during the month of January. Albright Fellows learn from the expertise and perspectives of faculty and thought leaders who represent a wide variety of disciplines including environmental science, sociology, political science, and economics.

Day one began with introductory remarks by Joanne Murray, director of the Albright Institute ("New Learning for a New World"), followed by a lecture from Katherine Marshall ’67, senior fellow and visiting professor, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University ("The Challenges of Poverty, Equity, and Social Justice: Ethical and Practical Dimensions"). A random sample of other Wintersession presentations scheduled for the Fellows include:

  • Patricia Sulser ’79, chief counsel, International Finance Corporation ("The Role of the Private Sector in International Development")
  • Lawrence Rosenwald, Anne Pierce Rogers Professor of English, Wellesley College ("Imaginative Literature and Global Affairs, Or, Does Literature Have Any Authority Here?")
  • Vivian Pinn ’62, senior scientist, emerita, Fogarty International Center, NIH; former director of the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health ("Global Urbanization and Women's Health")

Drawing from what they learn during the expert presentations and from their own studies at Wellesley, the Fellows team up to develop and propose innovative solutions to world problems. They present their work to the institute’s faculty for critique and analysis in the final week of the Institute.

The summer following her participation in the Institute, each Fellow has the opportunity to further apply what she has learned by participating in a global affairs internship in the United States or abroad.

2013 Fellows

The 2013 Albright Fellows include 20 seniors and 20 juniors, of whom 32 are U.S. citizens (10 with dual citizenship) and eight are international students. The 13 countries represented by the cohort are: Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, France, India, Iraq, Kenya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Korea, and the United States. Students’ majors range from economics and political science to comparative literature, music and East Asian linguistics, encompassing 27 majors overall. 

The 2013 Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute Fellows are:

  • Oluwakemi Akin-Olugbade ’14 (French Cultural Studies; Psychology) Lagos, Nigeria
  • Sundus Al-Bayati ’14 (Architecture) Baghdad, Iraq
  • Marsin Alshamary ’13 (International Relations-Political Science; French) Bel Aire, Kan.
  • Samantha Burke ’14 (Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences; German Studies) Lansdale, Pa.
  • Juliette Chevallier ’14 (Mathematics) Laguna Niguel, Calif.
  • Laura Coffin ’13 (Economics) Seattle, Wash.
  • Yi Ling Dai ’13 (Neuroscience) Alpena, Mich.
  • Zahrah Devji ’13 (Women's and Gender Studies; French) Vancouver, B.C., Canada
  • Safaya Fawzi ’14 (Political Science) Northbrook, Ill.
  • Maia Fitzstevens ’13 (Environmental Studies) Rochester, N.Y.
  • Shuyu Gao ’13 (Economics) Nanjing, China
  • Carly Gayle ’13 (Environmental Studies) Gaithersburg, Md.
  • Jennifer Gu ’14 (Political Science) Flushing, N.Y.
  • Jiwon Hahn ’13 (Comparative Literature) Daejeon, South Korea
  • Kelsey Heroux ’14 (Sociology) York, Maine
  • Jiun-Yiing Hu ’14 (Neuroscience) Toronto, Ont., Canada
  • Florence Wangu'i Kamonji ’13 (Environmental Studies; Urban Studies) Ongata Rongai, Kenya
  • Talar Keskinyan ’13 (Peace & Justice Studies) Plandome, N.Y.
  • Christine Keung ’14 (Environmental Studies; Economics) Temple City, Calif.
  • Nuha Khan ’13 (Economics; Mathematics) Lahore, Pakistan 
  • Tricia Lu ’14 (Biological Sciences) Greer, S.C.
  • Jessica Malekos-Smith ’13 (Russian; International Relations-Political Science) Burlingame, Calif.
  • Nora Mishanec ’14 (Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences) Schenectady, N.Y.
  • Crystal Myung ’14 (Political Science; Spanish) Diamond Bar, Calif.
  • Prerana Nanda ’14 (Economics), Durham, N.H.
  • Nancy Negrete ’14 (Political Science; Latin American Studies) Lynwood, Calif.
  • Dhivya Perumal ’14 (Neuroscience) Bangalore, India
  • Ana Plascencia Casillas ’14 (Economics; Political Science) San Jose, Calif.
  • Elze Rackaityte ’13 (Biological Sciences) Massillon, Ohio
  • Emma Rackstraw ’14 (International Relations-Economics) Bethesda, Md.
  • Farheen Rahimtoola ’13 (Economics) Mumbai, India
  • Taibat Salami ’13 (Neuroscience) Chicago, Ill.
  • Sara Simon ’13 (English) Portland, Ore.
  • Ada Smith ’13 (Environmental Studies; Anthropology) Stoughton, Wis.
  • Lois Taylor-Kamara ’13 (Economics) Bronx, N.Y.
  • Mayrah Udvardi ’14 (Architecture; Environmental Studies) Corvallis, Ore.
  • Anisha Vishwanath ’13 (Art History; Neuroscience) Westwood, Mass.
  • Margaret West ’14 (German Studies) Middlebury, Vt.
  • Audrey Wozniak ’14 (East Asian Linguistics; Music) Austin, Texas
  • Kirstin Yanisch ’13 (Political Science; French) Shoreview, Minn.

Public Events

All public events are in Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall Auditorium.

January 11, 3:00 p.m.
Freedom, Equality, and Democracy

  • Pedro Pires, President of Cape Verde, 2001-2011
  • Remarks by: Barney Frank, Former U.S. Representative, 4th District of Massachusetts
  • Moderator: Layli Maparyan, Katherine Stone Kaufmann ’67 Executive Director, Wellesley Centers for Women

January 24, 4:00 p.m.
The United States and China in the 21st Century

  • Madeleine Korbel Albright '59, U.S. Secretary of State, 1997-2001
  • Henry M. Paulson, Jr., U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 2006 - 2009
  • Moderator: Cokie Roberts ’64, Senior Correspondent, ABC News & NPR   

January 25, 10:00 a.m.
Prague Winter

  • Madeleine Korbel Albright '59, U.S. Secretary of State, 1997-2001, and author of Prague Winter