H.J. Heinz Company Foundation Fellowship for Developing Countries’ Students in USA

H.J.
Heinz Company Foundation Fellowship

About the Fellowship

The Heinz Fellowship
was established in 1982 by an endowment from the H. J. Heinz Company Foundation
to the University of Pittsburgh’s (“Pitt”) University Center for International
Studies (UCIS). The Fellowship is offered annually and is managed by the Global
Studies Center (GSC) at the UCIS. Pitt is one of the leading research
universities in the United States with 13 professional schools, 31 departments
in the humanities and social and natural sciences, over 4,800 faculty members,
over 28,000 students, and library holdings of over 6.8 million volumes. Pitt is
located in an urban center of cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity.

Heinz Fellowships
are granted to individuals from developing countries who demonstrate potential
as future leaders in the public, government, non-profit, or private sectors.
The goal is to improve, early in a career, a Fellow’s capacity to contribute to
the development of their country and to enhance their understanding of the U.S.
The Fellowship has been restructured beginning with the 2012-13 academic year
to align with specific Master’s programs of Pitt professional schools. The GSC
no longer directly accepts Heinz applications. If you are interested in
applying for the Fellowship, please contact the professional school you applied
to after receipt of your acceptance. University of Pittsburgh professional
schools with potential Heinz support include the Graduate
School of Public Health
(GSPH), the Graduate School ofPublic and International Affairs (GSPIA), the School of Law, and the School of Nursing.

Fellows will receive
one to two years of support in the form of a living stipend of $19,200 (paid in
monthly installments) and a $1,000 program and professional activities fund.
Please note that if the Fellow comes from a country that does not have a tax
treaty with the U.S., the Fellow must pay U.S. taxes amounting to 14% of the
stipend. No transportation costs, living or other allowances, services or
insurance funds are provided for dependents, whether or not they accompany the
Fellow.

Eligibility

The competition for
a Heinz Fellowship is open to men and women from developing countries whose
record of accomplishment early in their career indicates strong potential for
leadership and achievement in business, government, public services, or other
relevant professions.

  1. Applicants
    must have been accepted to a Master’s program beginning the academic year
    for which they seek the Heinz Fellowship by the GSPH, the GSPIA or the
    School of Nursing.
  2. Applicants
    must have completed a university degree.
  3. Applicants
    must be proficient in speaking, reading and writing English.
  4. Preference
    will be given to those applicants at the early or mid-stages of their
    career.
  5. The
    Fellowship is intended for individuals in the practitioner and policy
    domains. It is not awarded for basic academic research, academic
    sabbaticals or medical research.

Fellow Obligations

During the
residency, the Fellow is expected to give at least one presentation on a
subject related to his or her professional experience to members of the
University. In addition, the Fellow is strongly encouraged to participate in
community outreach activities in the region by lecturing about his or her home
country to an audience of high school students or interested adults.

Acceptance of the
grant by the candidate constitutes an agreement between the grantee and the
University. It is expected that, barring unforeseen emergencies, grantees will
remain for the full tenure of the award. A grantee who leaves the U.S. or
terminates the grant at a date earlier than that specified in the grant
authorization, without consent of the University, will be required to reimburse
the University for any expenditures made by the University on the grantee’s
behalf.

Upon completion of
the Heinz Fellowship program, Fellows are required to submit a final report
describing and evaluating the full range of their activities and experiences
during the Fellowship, as well as their plans for applying the Fellowship upon
return to their home country. These reports are subsequently distributed to
program officials at the University of Pittsburgh and to representatives at the
H.J. Heinz Company Foundation. These reports will also be used as references
for incoming Fellowship recipients. Upon acceptance of their final report,
Fellows will receive a Heinz Program certificate from the UCIS.

Timeline

  • Master’s
    program application deadline
    : Please check the deadline for
    the school and academic year you intend to apply.
  • May
    2017
    :
    Winner notified
  • May
    2017
    :
    Winners announced on Web site
  • August
    1, 2017
    :
    Fellowship year begins
  • July
    31, 2018
    :
    Fellowship year ends

Application Process

When submitting your
Master’s program application, please indicate that you would like to be
considered for the Heinz Fellows Program.

Current Heinz Fellows

Current Fellows
2015-16

Stephan
Juma

Stephan Juma comes
to Pitt in AY 15-16 as both a Heinz Fellow and as a Fulbright Foreign Language
Teaching Assistant focusing on Swahili pedagogy. He is a graduate of Masinde
Muliro University of Science in Kakamega, Kenya, having received a Bachelor’s
in Education Arts. Mr. Juma is currently a secondary school teacher in Kenya.
His academic interests include African Studies, communications and journalism; while
his personal interests range from computers and technology to drama and music.
While at Pitt, Mr. Juma will be working with both Global Studies and the
African Studies Program.

James
Ochieng

James Ochieng is a
graduate of the Moi University School of Law and the Kenya School of Law in
Nairobi. He is a practicing lawyer in Kenya whose work includes pro bono legal
services for the poor. Mr. Ochieng has entered Pitt’s LLM program to enhance
his ability to excel in academia and his skills as a practicing lawyer for when
he returns to Kenya. His goal is to become a law school faculty member. Mr.
Ochieng’s other interests include moot court competitions and football.

Kelechi
Oriaku

Dr. Kelechi Oriaku
is a native of Nigeria and is a graduate of the Dnipropetrovsk State Medical
Academy in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. His inspiration for seeking a Master’s in
Public Health from Pitt stems from the myriad health issues afflicting his
native land, including a high number of people living with HIV/AIDS. His
travels to Asia and Europe have convinced Dr. Oriaku that exemplary health care
systems and technologies available in countries in those regions must be
developed in all regions and countries around the globe, including Africa. His
studies at the GSPH are concentrated in the Department of Behavioral and
Community Health Sciences.

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