Letters From Cornell University - 3
- Part 1 -
- The Global Leadership Forum at Washington D.C. 19th - 23rd October, 2008 -
By Rajkumari Sunita Devi *
"A leader is one who summons the best from others, as he calls upon the best within himself, to join in the common cause and the common purpose." - Hubert H. Humphrey
History about Hubert H. Humphrey : Born in Wallace, South Dakota in 1911 to a mother who was a homemaker and a father who was a small-town pharmacist, Hubert H. Humphrey enjoyed an illustrious career as a statesman and champion of civil and human rights.
He became mayor of Minneapolis in 1945 and gained national attention when he delivered a controversial, electrifying, and historic speech on civil rights to the Democratic National Convention in 1948. In that year, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served for 15 years. In 1964 he was elected Vice President of the United States on the ticket headed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and served a full four-year term. He ran for President in 1968, but lost by a very thin margin to Richard M. Nixon. Undaunted, Humphrey returned to the Senate in 1971, where he served until his death from cancer in January, 1978.
Among many qualities, Humphrey was known for his exuberant personality and detailed memory. Persons of many different political orientations considered him a friend, and he worked on behalf of people from all walks of life: the young, the aged, the poor, laborers, farmers, people of color, and people from other countries.
During a eulogy at Humphrey's funeral, President Jimmy Carter remarked: "From time to time, our nation is blessed by the presence of men and women who bear the mark of greatness, who help us see a better vision of what we can become. Hubert Humphrey was such a man."
Building on that sentiment, in March 1978 Carter announced the creation of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program to honor Humphrey's exemplary leadership, his tireless devotion to public service, and his sincere hope for greater understanding among nations.
Brief overview of the fellowship: The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program provides a year of professional enrichment in the United States for experienced professionals from designated countries throughout the world. Fellows are selected based on their potential for leadership and their commitment to public service in either the public or private sector.
Each year approximately 160 Fellows funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State engage in non-degree study and related professional experiences at selected American universities. Begun in 1978, the program now has a network of over 3,700 alumni in 156 countries around the world working to improve their communities and the lives of those in need.
Fellows are placed at one of fifteen American universities chosen for excellence in relevant Humphrey fields and for the resources and support they offer Humphrey Fellows.
The host campus selection process is open to all universities. This year's competition is in the fields of: Educational Administration, Planning and Policy; Public Health Policy and Management; and Agricultural Development/Agricultural Economics and Natural Resources, Environmental Policy and Climate Change.
Since the inception of the Humphrey Fellowship Program in 1978, IIE has worked in partnership with nearly 40 universities in the United States. U.S. host universities are selected through a competitive bidding process. Selection is based on the institution's ability to develop specialized non-degree programs for a diverse group of Fellows in one or more of the program's professional fields.
The host universities for this program are Cornell University, American University, Washington College of Law, Tulane University, Boston University, University of California, Davis, University of Maryland, Emory University, University of Minnesota (Humphrey Institute and Law School), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Washington, Michigan State University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Pennsylvania State University.
|
to be continued....
Read more on Sunita here.
* Rajkumari Sunita Devi (Junior Scientist at Manipur Remote Sensing and Application Centre) is a regular contributor to e-pao.net. She is the recipient of Hubert Humphrey Fellow, 2008-08 at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. She was conferred the "Map Asia Award 2007" at Kuala Lampur. Read more on her here and here. This article was webcasted on November 18, 2008.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.