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Zuckerman Fellows Program

For study at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, or Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The challenges we face in our public schools and public health systems, as well as in government at all levels, are too complicated to be solved without the insight and commitment of leaders with the highest-quality professional training. But for many who have a strong aptitude for public service, the opportunity costs associated with acquiring the necessary training are too high.

In response to this problem, the Zuckerman Fellows Program equips people from the fields of medicine, law, and business to provide leadership for the common good by making it possible for them to pursue public service degrees at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, or Harvard Kennedy School. The Zuckerman Fellowship provides recipients with full tuition and health insurance fees for one year plus a living stipend.

Grant

"I came to Harvard Kennedy School with the hope of meeting dissimilar people: students with a common ethos, but with divergent perspectives and capabilities. I'm now part of an intimate family with the likes of a Navy SEAL, a pediatric neurologist, and a civil rights law student. I believe deeply that solving the world's problems rests on our ability to work together, across disciplines, experiences, and belief systems." 
-Grant Tudor, MPP '19

Application

Step 1: Apply to Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, or Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Please see respective school websites for deadline information.

Step 2: Apply for the Fellowship. Candidates for the Zuckerman Fellowship will be required to complete a fellowship application form and upload supplemental materials through the online portal, which is managed by the Harvard Committee on General Scholarships.

We are in the process of launching a new online application platform which will be available on this website on December 3, 2018. Eligible applicants are encouraged to read through the guidelines below to see what is required, so that they can prepare their materials (i.e.: statement of purpose, request letters of recommendation) while they wait for the online application to go live.

Deadline: The Zuckerman Fellowship application deadline for the 2019-2020 fellowship is 11:59 p.m. EST on Saturday, January 5, 2019.

A Zuckerman Fellowship application includes:

  • A completed online application form.
  • Resume or Curriculum Vitae.
  • Statement of Purpose - the Zuckerman Fellows Program is meant to prepare recipients to lead change in the public sector. Please provide a concrete example of your success as a leader in the past and discuss how you plan to bring your experience, education, and leadership capacity to bear on solving significant public service issues in the future. The typed Statement of Purpose should include the applicant’s name on each page and should not exceed 1,200 words.
  • Two Letters of Recommendation are required to support the application. The most effective letters will explicitly reference the applicant’s leadership capacity and potential to lead change in the public sector. Letters of recommendation should be submitted on university or company letterhead and bear the recommender’s signature.

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Please do not submit additional materials (newspaper clippings, photos, portfolios, etc.). The selection committee will not review these materials.

Eligibility

  • Candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
  • Candidates for the Zuckerman Fellows Program are individuals who have – or are pursuing – an M.B.A., J.D., or M.D., or D.M.D./D.D.S graduate degree from an accredited United States institution AND are seeking an additional Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
    • Candidates who have completed their M.B.A., J.D., or M.D, or D.M.D./D.D.S. degree are eligible.
    • Candidates who are working on their M.B.A., J.D., or M.D, or D.M.D./D.D.S. degree are eligible.
    • Candidates who are applying to joint or concurrent degree programs in these fields, are eligible.
  • The fellowship application is separate from the candidate’s application for admission to the Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the Chan School of Public Health. Applications for admission must be submitted to the appropriate school according to the deadlines established at that school. Fellows must be admitted to their programs at the Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the T.H. Chan School of Public Health in order to take up the Fellowship.
  • Candidates who are applying to MBA programs (as part of a joint or concurrent program) must apply for admission in Round 1 or 2 in order to be considered for the fellowship.
  • Applicants who are waitlisted for admission cannot be considered for the fellowship.
  • Fellows must be in their first year at the Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the School of Public Health during their fellowship year. Further, fellows are required to be enrolled full time for the entire academic year at the Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the Chan School of Public Health during their Fellowship year. There are NO exceptions to this policy.
  • Zuckerman Fellowships may not be deferred except in exceptional circumstances.
  • Most applicants who plan to enroll in a joint degree program with the Harvard Law School (HLS) will apply for the fellowship during their first year at HLS. However, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Committee on General Scholarships before submitting their application to determine the correct timing of their fellowship application.
  • Fellows are required to participate fully in the co-curricular program during their fellowship year.
  • Applicants are encouraged to contact the Committee on General Scholarships with any questions about eligibility before submitting their applications.

Interviews

Finalists for the Zuckerman Fellowship will be asked to participate in an interview with members of the Zuckerman Fellows selection committee.

Contact Information:

Questions about the application, guidelines, or eligibility requirements of the Zuckerman Fellowship should be directed to the Committee on General Scholarships at 617.496.5052 or zuckermanfellows@harvard.edu.

Questions about the academic programs at any Harvard graduate or professional school, or the admissions procedures or guidelines, should be directed to the admissions office of the school of your interest. Web site links to Harvard graduate and professional schools are available at the Harvard University home page, www.harvard.edu.

Questions about the Zuckerman Fellowship Co-curricular Program should be directed to the Center for Public Leadership at 617.496.5238.

Please note: Harvard University will be closed from Monday, December 24, 2018 through Tuesday, January 1, 2019.

Program Information

Zuckerman Fellows are selected on the basis of:

  • Outstanding leadership ability with potential for significant impact to advance the public good,
  • Commitment to public service, and
  • Intellectual distinction and academic achievement.

While they are pursuing a master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, or Harvard Kennedy School, Zuckerman Fellows also participate in an intensive leadership development program designed by the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership including experiential learning opportunities; faculty and practitioner-led seminars on core leadership competencies; a renowned speaker series; and service opportunities to help fellows gain applied leadership skills, enrich their academic experience, and build lasting ties that help them become powerful forces for change. CPL’s leadership development program includes the following components:

  • Welcome Retreat: CPL Fellows establish leadership goals for themselves and their cohorts for the year and begin the process of supporting one another’s aspirations as leaders.
  • Leadership Seminars: Fellows participate in workshops on faculty taught core leadership competencies and engage with eminent practitioners and local and national leaders on topics of cross sector leadership.
  • Fellows–led Field Experience: Fellows plan a multi-day field experience trip in the continental United States and meet with local leaders in order to gain an understanding of deep rooted public policy challenges and innovative approaches to resolving them.
  • Experiential Cohort-based Learning: Learning from and with their fellowship cohort is at the heart of each fellow's leadership development. Fellows have the opportunity to participate in Dream Trust Leadership Reflection exercises to explore a personal leadership challenge and gain specific, actionable advice from a trusted group of advisors.  Fellows also have the opportunity to organize their own sessions to explore particular issues and topics of public service leadership.

Connection with CPL and Zuckerman Fellows Network: Zuckerman Fellows have opportunities to engage with the full community of 100+ CPL graduate fellows along with CPL’s community of almost 800 fellowship program alumni. Candidates for the Zuckerman Fellowship must have, or be working toward, a professional graduate degree in business, medicine, or law, and must also be interested in pursuing an additional degree in education, government, or public health at Harvard University.

Mortimer B. Zuckerman is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report, the Chairman and Publisher of the New York Daily News, the co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Boston Properties Inc.

He is a trustee of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a member of the Bank of America Global Wealth & Investment Management Committee, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Washington Institute for Near East Studies, and the Vice Chair and Treasurer of the International Peace Institute. He is a sponsor of Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, a former Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, a former lecturer of City and Regional Planning at Yale University, a past president of the Board of Trustees of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the former Chairman of the Principal’s International Advisory Board of McGill University. He is a former trustee of New York University and the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton. He is a former Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and served as President of the America-Israel Friendship League.

Mr. Zuckerman is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal where he received an undergraduate degree in 1957 with first class honors, a degree in law in 1961 and an honorary LLD in 2011. He received an MBA with distinction from the Wharton Graduate School, University of Pennsylvania, in 1961 and an LLM from Harvard University in 1962.

He has received honorary degrees from Colby College, Southampton College, Hebrew College, Berkeley College, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University and an honorary Doctorate of Laws from McGill University and Columbia University. Mr. Zuckerman was awarded the Commandeur De L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Guild Hall, the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architecture in New York, the Sy Syms Humanitarian award from Yeshiva University and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Canadian government.

Are applicants to the joint or concurrent degree program eligible?
Joint and concurrent degree students at Harvard are eligible to apply for a Zuckerman Fellowship. However, the timing of the Fellowship application should be discussed with the Committee on General Scholarships.

Applicants who plan to pursue joint or concurrent degrees should contact the Committee on General Scholarships at 617.496.5052 or zuckermanfellows@harvard.edu.

What is required of the fellows?
Fellows are required to be in full-time residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard School of Public Health, or Harvard Kennedy School during their fellowship year. A Zuckerman Fellowship is awarded for one year only, even though some master's degree programs last for more than one year.

Fellows are expected to participate fully in the cocurricular program organized by the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School during their fellowship year.

How do I check the status of my application?
Candidates may email the Program Office to confirm receipt of their fellowship application at zuckermanfellows@harvard.edu. The office will not release any information about the selection of Zuckerman Fellows until the Fellows are selected in April. At that time, all applicants will receive written notice of the outcome of their applications.

The Zuckerman Program Office does not have any information about the status of applications for admission to Harvard graduate or professional schools.

For questions about the fellowship application, guidelines, or eligibility requirements of the Zuckerman Fellowship, please contact the Committee on General Scholarships at 617.496.5052 or zuckermanfellows@harvard.edu.

For questions about the cocurricular program, please contact the Center of Public Leadership at barbara_best@hks.harvard.edu or zuckermanfellows@harvard.edu.