Tima Dasouki (Pardee ’22) has been awarded the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship.
The Pickering Fellowship Program is funded by the United States Department of State and administered by Howard University. It attracts and prepares outstanding young people for Foreign Service careers in the U.S. Department of State. Upon successful completion of a two-year master’s degree program and fulfillment of Foreign Service entry requirements, fellows have the opportunity to work as Foreign Service Officers in accordance with applicable law and State Department policy, serving in Washington, DC and at a U.S. embassy, consulate, or diplomatic mission around the globe.
When asked to comment on her new fellowship, Dasouki said the following:
The fellowship is an extremely exciting opportunity to me because, as a Syrian-American woman, I get to portray the U.S.‘s rich diversity to countries all over the world. My strong appreciation for U.S. values and democracy comes from my experiences during the Syrian civil war, and I’m beyond grateful that I get to serve my country in the Department of State and spread democracy in war-torn countries like Syria. Everything has come around full circle!
In receiving this fellowship, I must acknowledge the help of my amazing mentors Ambassador Robert Loftis who first introduced me to this fellowship and has been an amazing mentor throughout, and Ambassador Mark Storella who prepared me for every aspect of this fellowship and served as a wonderful resource to get me into the foreign service. I would also like to thank Segun Idowu from the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts for providing me with opportunities to challenge myself professionally during my fellowship this past summer.
I would like to thank Jeff Berg from the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships at BU. He’s been my #1 advocate and supporter throughout the application process and encouraged me to apply.
“The Pickering Fellowship is an incredibly competitive U.S. State Department program that offers promising young people, most often from underrepresented minorities, a two-year graduate school scholarship followed by entry into the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer (career diplomat),” said Ambassador Loftis, former Pardee School Associate Dean of Studies and Professor of the Practice of International Relations. “I see Tima rising high in the ranks of the Foreign Service and being an excellent representative of our country for years to come. She has all the qualities to make an excellent diplomat and I hope to one day address her as ‘Madam Ambassador.’”
To learn more about the fellowship, visit the Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program’s website.
