March 2005

CAMPUS NEWS

AU Tops Nation with Most Presidential Management Fellow Winners

AU has topped the nation this year in the number of students awarded a prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF). Forty-two finalists were selected for the competitive two-year program, which has been described as the fast track to high-level management positions within the federal government.

Twenty-seven of AU’s 42 finalists are from the School of International Service, nine are from the School of Public Affairs, eight from the Washington College of Law, and one
is from the School of Communication. Three of the WCL students are also SIS students.

“It was a coordinated team effort between all of the schools and colleges here at AU,” says Camille Franklin, director of career development at the Career Center, who coordinated the university-wide effort. “It really was a group effort. You have to be nominated by your school, but the final numbers reflect how well the university did as a whole. We really worked well as a group.”

SIS Dean Louis Goodman attributed the school’s fine showing to the high quality of its students. “The students we have in the school are absolutely first rate, are committed to doing public service, and are passionate about doing that in the most meaningful possible way. For many of our students, working in the federal government tops their list,” he says.

Mary Barton was one of the SIS staff members responsible for coordinating this year’s program, working with Professor Shoon Murray, the faculty nominating officer. The intensive process at SIS that guided students to success over many months included essay and interview workshops, and a three-step rewriting process for essays.

The PMF program was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to attract outstanding individuals from a wide variety of academic disciplines into the federal service. Anita Alpern, emerita professor at SPA, was on the team that created the program in 1977.

AU has traditionally had a great deal of success in winning fellowships and is usually ranked in the top five. This year’s stellar showing, though, was particularly satisfying. “I don’t want to minimize the staff and faculty role in this, but it’s really the students who shone,” says Barton, manager of graduate programs, SIS.

Across AU, slightly more than half of the university’s 80 semifinalists ended up being selected for the prestigious program. Last year, AU was fourth, after Columbia, Harvard, and Georgetown.

“SIS is very happy and proud that so many students were from SIS. But everybody at AU is number one this year," says Barton.

-Sally Acharya, originally published in American Weekly

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