George P. and Charlotte Shultz Fellowship Awarded to
Stanford JD-PhD student Emily Warren
Stanford JD-PhD student Emily Warren has been awarded the inaugural George P. and Charlotte Shultz Fellowship in Modern Israel Studies for proposed research into Israel’s defense industrial policy, Hillel at Stanford announced today.
Many contend that Israel’s profitable and fast-growing civilian high technology sector arose thanks to government cultivation of a homegrown defense industry in the 1970s and ‘80s. If true, this story counters economic theories that industrial policy only hampers growth. Warren’s project, to be pursued in Israel in the summer of 2012, will analyze whether Israel did in fact undertake such policies successfully, and, if so, how Israel managed to gain from industrial policy while other nations have been harmed by it.
“Secretary Shultz is the individual who, more than any other, inspired me to pursue graduate studies at the intersection of international security and economics,” Warren said. “It is an honor to receive this fellowship commemorating his work.”
Warren, who earned her undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford, worked as a program officer for the Hewlett Foundation and studied in the UK as a Marshall Scholar. She has returned to Stanford to pursue a PhD in economics and a law degree simultaneously.
New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and his wife, Ann, a Stanford alumna, made the fellowship gift to Hillel at Stanford in honor of the 90th birthday of Mr. Shultz, a former US secretary of state, secretary of labor, and secretary of the treasury, as well as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Upon learning of the gift in his honor, Shultz matched the Friedmans’ gift, effectively doubling the fellowship fund.
“We are deeply grateful to the Friedmans and the Shultzes for their generosity, and for helping Hillel at Stanford to encourage student travel to Israel to advance scholarly pursuits,” said Rabbi Serena Eisenberg, executive director of Hillel at Stanford.
“My wife Ann and I are so pleased that the Shultz Fellowship attracted such quality applications and was awarded to such a deserving student in Emily.”
Other fellowship finalists included undergraduate Alon Elhanan, who proposed exploring how the censor’s effectiveness has changed over time, and whether modern social media has strengthened or challenged the necessity of the censor in Israel; and undergraduate Maya Kornberg, who proposed investigating the influence of religion on the political views of young members of the Jewish community in Israel.
A distinguished panel of judges included Professor Larry Diamond, director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; Professor Abbas Milani, director of Iranian studies at Stanford and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution; The Honorable Condoleezza Rice, former US secretary of state and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; and The Honorable Abraham D. Sofaer, a federal judge and legal advisor to the State Department during the Reagan administration, now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.
The fellowship, open to Stanford students in all fields with an interest in conducting research on modern Israel issues, encouraged applications from those of all backgrounds and religions, or none, and in all disciplines including business, engineering, law, medicine, science and humanities. Students must have attended Stanford for a minimum of two years, currently be enrolled at Stanford, and complete a cohesive research project to be presented on campus at the conclusion of the research term.
Because of Stanford University restrictions on funding research opportunities in Israel while the State Department maintains a travel advisory there, the fellowship fund was established at Hillel at Stanford, which administers the award. Other universities, including the University of California, recently have updated their guidelines and sanctioned travel to Israel. As a result of this generous fellowship opportunity, Hillel at Stanford will work with university officers to try to attain a similar university travel approval.
