Duke Junior Selected as Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow

Duke University junior Jamal Edwards is one of only 10 undergraduates nationwide selected to be a 2015 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.Edwards, a Robertson Scholar from Rancho Cucamonga, California, is among 30 undergraduate and graduate students awarded Pickering Fellowships for 2015 -- 20 graduate students and 10 undergraduates.The fellows are selected based on their demonstrated skills of dedication, initiative, integrity, cultural adaptability, the ability to communicate well and a thorough intellectual background. These are skills considered critical to the U.S. diplomatic corps.The undergraduate fellows are completing majors in fields such as international service, political science and regional and comparative studies.These members of the 22nd class of Pickering Undergraduate Fellows will receive financial support toward their senior year and first year of graduate school. Fellows will also participate in one domestic and one overseas internship, receiving mentoring from Foreign Service officers. They also must complete a minimum five-year service commitment as a Foreign Service officer.Edwards, a global health and journalism double major, is a first-generation college student who participates in Duke’s First Generation Network, Cardea Fellows Program and was president of the Black Student Alliance. Last summer, he interned with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS in Geneva, Switzerland, with the Governance and Multilateral Affairs unit.The Pickering Fellowship program honors distinguished American diplomat Thomas R. Pickering, who served as ambassador to Nigeria, El Salvador, Israel, India and the Russian Federation. He finished his career in the Foreign Service as undersecretary of state for political affairs.For more information about the Pickering Fellowship, visit woodrow.org/news/ww_pickeringfellows_2015/.