Dustin Palmer MPA ’16 and Alyson Neel MPA ’15 have been awarded the prestigious Luce Scholarship, a national competitive fellowship program launched in 1974 by the Henry Luce Foundation.
The Luce Scholars Program was developed to enhance the understanding of Asia within the American society and their potential leaders. Each year, the Luce Scholarship is awarded between 15 and 18 individuals who range from college seniors, graduate students and young professionals in a variety of fields who have had limited exposure to Asia. The program provides the scholars with language training, stipends and individual professional placement in Asia.
Luce scholars gain new perspectives and cultural insights on their host countries through immersive living and working experiences in Asia. A professional placement is individually arranged for each scholar on the basis of his or her professional interest, background and qualifications.
The scholars are placed in one of the following countries or regions: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Congratulations to 2016-17 Luce Scholars from WWS.
Alyson Neel MPA ’15
Neel works as a legislative fellow on gender policy in the office of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). She also currently serves as an adviser on global civil society engagement to the United Nation’s (U.N.) Foundation's Policy Team. Last June, Neel received her Master of Public Affairs degree from the Woodrow Wilson School, where she helped advise and implement reforms to Princeton University policy and practice on campus sexual assault, conducted quantitative and qualitative research for U.N. women on the obstacles to gender parity in the U.N. system and worked with Elizabeth Levy Paluck, associate professor of psychology and public affairs, on synthesizing for the World Bank what a behavioral approach to reducing gender-based violence in fragile states looks like. Prior to graduate school, Neel was a journalist based in Istanbul, Turkey.
“My professional background is in efforts to reduce gender-based violence, so getting to see what this issue looks in a different context would be invaluable,” Neel said. “I’ve increasingly dabbled in representation/leadership and economic security issues, so I’ve also considered working with a domestic worker coalition for greater labor protections or with organizations that train female leaders. The scope of possibilities is endless, which is equally exhilarating and daunting! For example, the Luce Placement Coordinator told me I could work for a female parliamentarian in Mongolia; that’s just wild.”
Dustin Palmer MPA ’16
Palmer graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University in St. Louis with majors in American culture studies and political science. Dustin spent time as a research assistant on legislative processes at the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, based at Washington University in St. Louis, and as an intern with the St. Louis County Public Defender, the public diplomacy office and for the Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy Suva in the Republic of Fiji. He then spent nearly three years at the National Democratic Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that supports and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide.
Recently, Palmer has focused on justice system issues. This past summer, he interned in Jakarta, Indonesia with KontraS, an Indonesian nongovernmental organization dedicated to human rights and access to justice issues. While there, he completed an assessment of the nascent Indonesian national legal aid law and presented to college students in the KontraS annual human rights training school.
He is currently a graduate fellow in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, where he supports city-wide efforts to combat the school-to-prison pipeline and implement arrest diversion programs.
“I'm thrilled for the chance to work in Asia, and I was particularly touched by the emphasis on humility and personal growth by the Luce Foundation President Michael Gilligan,” Palmer said. “I'm grateful for the people who supported my application, including the WWS Career Services Office, my professors, and my classmates who offered their advice, time, and encouragement in preparation for the interviews.”
Visit www.hluce.org/lsprogram.aspx for more information about the Luce Scholars Program.