Each year, the World Fellows Program selects a group of 16 Fellows to spend four months in residence at Yale as mentors, lecturers, and students. Each class of Fellows is unique, representing a wide range of professions, talents, places, and perspectives. Established in 2002, the program—part of the International Leadership Center at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs—now has a network of nearly 400 World Fellows contributing to their communities in 91 countries, connected to each other and to Yale.

The World Fellows are dynamic practitioners who are on the rise in their fields. They come from diverse backgrounds, all demonstrating significant achievement in their respective industries. The Fellows share a passion for change and a commitment to making the world a better place.

The Fellows organize and lead lectures, panels, and discussions during their time on campus. They present on their own influential work, but also invite colleagues, friends, and other experts for conversations on topics from their broader disciplines. The Fellows bring unique perspectives from the field and inspire relevant conversations on critical issues that are not always discussed on university campuses.

World Fellows also develop close relationships with undergraduates and graduate students at Yale. Each Fellow is paired with a small group of student liaisons, who are matched based on their shared interests. Many liaisons are Jackson students themselves. The World Fellows lounge sits just across the hall from the Jackson student lounge at Horchow Hall­; this proximity makes the World Fellows particularly accessible to Jackson students, from scheduled meetings to informal, spontaneous conversations. The Fellows offer direct mentorship to students that hope to follow similarly impactful careers.

During their time at Yale, many Fellows choose to attend courses in any number of departments, forging relationships not only with students, but also with members of Yale’s faculty and staff. Even after they finish the program, most Fellows maintain a close connection to Yale as they continue their work in the field. Many World Fellows also continue to help Yale students make career connections, even hosting some students as interns within their own organizations.

More than anything else, the World Fellows are invaluable role models on campus, inspiring students to explore careers and sectors in which they too can work toward a common good in the world.

Learn more about the World Fellows Program, the application process, and the Student Liaison Program at the World Fellows Program website.

Hear from World Fellows Liaisons

Metincan Suran YC'19

“I don’t think I could have learned the lessons that I have from working with [2017 World Fellow] Annemie Turtelboom, my fellow liaisons and the other World Fellows from any class I could take at Yale. U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt once said, ‘far and away the best prize life has to offer is working hard at work worth doing.’ Working hard at work worth doing describes my time as a liaison in this program.”

Susie Beyl YC'20

“I wanted to interact with the world in a new way; through those who were changing it. Seeing the Fellows, who seem to me like they have already left enormous legacies of change worldwide, congregate at Yale to continue learning about and from each other is inspiring. I believe there is a lot of truth in the statement, ‘You have to see it to be it.’ As a liaison, now having seen it, I will think back with unending gratitude to the 2018 class of Fellows with each step, whatever it might be, as I try my own hand at ‘being it.’”

Lis Siegel YC'20

“All of us liaisons here were lucky beyond belief to be able to spend the last several months in the company of visionaries from every corner of the world. The kindness and mutual support found at the intersections of the experienced fellows and those of us taking our first steps into true adulthood is wonderful. Their paths have shown us as Yale students that there is no one set formula to success, no one right way to go about changing the world or starting a revolution. These are valuable lessons that we are lucky to be able to take from this semester. ”