Two Clinton School students have earned 2013 Boren Fellowships, which provide stipends to U.S. graduate students to add international and language components to their graduate education.
John Delurey of Winchester, Mass., will study KiSwahili in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Sean O’Keefe of Seattle, Wash., will study Arabic in Tunisia as 2013 Boren Fellows. Both students will complete their final Clinton School Capstone projects as part of their fellowships. They are among 108 Boren Fellows this year.
Delurey will receive $13,600 to develop fluency in KiSwahili while partnering with Barefoot Challenge and the Zanzibar Women’s Empowerment Project to measure the impact of solar energy electrification on women’s empowerment in Zanzibar.
O’Keefe will receive $17,800 to study Arabic and complete a project to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of internationally funded programs for political engagement, youth empowerment and women’s rights in Tunisia.
Boren Fellowships are funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), which focuses on geographic areas, languages and field study important to U.S. national security. The fellowship supports study and research in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East.
“We are extremely proud of both John and Sean for their accomplishments, and we’re looking forward to seeing the results of their work over the next year,” said Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford. “International exposure and education are key components of the Clinton School program and the Boren Fellowship will dramatically increase the knowledge and impact of both of these students for years to come.”
A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where he majored in international and area studies and environmental studies, Delurey completed four months of environmental service in Zanzibar and one month of various service projects in Kenya before entering the Clinton School. He is traveling to Kolomotu’a, Tongo, this summer to measure and analyze the present and future effects of climate change for his Clinton School international project.
A graduate of the University of Chicago where he studied Arabic and history, O’Keefe worked as an Arabic teacher with One World Now!, which works with underserved children in Seattle public schools, before entering the Clinton School. He is completing his Clinton School international project this summer with Care International in Amman, Jordan, where he is helping develop a psychosocial activities program for 200 Syrian refugees.
Delurey and O’Keefe are the first students from the Clinton School to receive Boren Fellowships. They will graduate from the school in May 2014.
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