About Sylff
Message from Sylff institutions
Gretchen Amussen
Deputy Director for External
Affairs and Communication
Conservatoire national
supérieur de musique et
de danse de Paris
(France)
Sylff recipients at the Conservatoire de Paris include some of the leading figures in the French music and dance world today. Grants to study abroad have made a crucial difference for hundreds of students and have led to important professional opportunities in performance and contemporary creation.
Ersin Onulduran
Professor and Chairman of International Relations
Faculty of Political Science
Ankara University
(Turkey)
The Ankara University Sylff fellows are beginning to achieve prominence in managerial and other leadership positions, especially in the Turkish departments of foreign affairs and finance. The scholarship is recognized as one that has touched the academic lives of many young scholars through the opportunities it has provided for research and study support.
Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J.
President
Ateneo de Manila
University
(The Philippines)
Each of the fellows has been a genuine achiever, not only in academics but in leadership, both in school and in outreach to the larger community. Sherilyn Siy, a Sylff fellow, best expresses the impact of Sylff: “As a member of the Sylff Fellows Council, my work is a way for me to give back and do more, having received so much from Sylff.”
Earl (Tim) Sullivan
Provost Emeritus
The American University
in Cairo
(Egypt)
Since 1993, the Sylff Program at The American University in Cairo has enabled students from several countries to earn master’s degrees. Graduates include diplomats, authors, lawyers, international civil servants, and university professors. The Sylff Program has also served as a model for other fellowship programs at our university.
Gerard F. Sheehan
Executive Associate Dean
The Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy
Tufts University
(USA)
Sylff has provided a crucial level of support to enroll talented students who are committed to the study of foreign affairs and who have a desire to develop policies and relationships for mutual benefit, security, and justice in an interdependent world. If there is hope for resolving the seemingly intractable challenges we face, that hope in part rests on Sylff fellows, who are increasingly assuming positions of influence in international affairs.
Daniel Warner
Executive Director, Center for International governance
The Graduate Institute of
International and Development Studies
University of Geneva
(Switzerland)
We have benefited from the Sylff Program by giving fellows a group identity through recognition of their leadership talents; by allowing fellows to attend international meetings, interact with other fellows, and travel to other countries to study; and by welcoming fellows in Geneva. The program has also benefited us by enabling the administrator to interact with colleagues in a most stimulating and creative environment.
Orlando L. Taylor
Vice Provost for Research
Dean of the Graduate School
Professor of Communications
Howard University
(USA)
Photo: Ron Ceasar
Since 1991, Howard has sponsored 43 Sylff fellows. They have conducted research on Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, China, Japan, and India, addressing race, gender, social inequality, and other human rights issues. Program highlights include the annual Sylff Fellows Research Day and Symposium; the Sylff E-newsletter, “Frontline” and the sponsorship of international conferences.
S. K. Sanyal
Former-Vice Chancellor
Jadavpur University
(India)
The Sylff Program provides a platform for our graduate students who are highly competent and motivated and have a good scholastic and creative understanding of social change. The process of nurturing future leaders through Sylff is uniquely effective in globally orienting our youth toward bettering local, national, and international realities.
Renata Dobrowolska
Senior Officer
International Relations Office
Jagiellonian University
(Poland)
So far, 185 Sylff Fellowships have been granted to Jagiellonian University master’s and doctoral students. In 2007, we crossed the magic border of US$1 million total awarded to our students. Many of the recipients are now academic staff members at Jagiellonian; others are making professional careers for themselves in Poland and abroad.
Ahmad Majdoubeh
Director, Office of International
Relations and Programs
University of Jordan
(Jordan)
Sylff at the University of Jordan has started to produce results. Besides enabling the recipients to focus on their studies and research full time and to broaden their horizons by taking part in international Sylff activities, the Sylff Fellowship has given a significant boost to the cultures of competitiveness, quality, excellence, and leadership among our graduate students.
Weifang Min
Executive Vice President
Chairman, University Council
Peking University
(China)
At Peking University, the Sylff Program has become an important incentive mechanism for encouraging our students to achieve higher levels of accomplishments in their studies and to better prepare themselves as future leaders in the world. I am confident that the positive impact of Sylff on the world will increase further in the next 20 years.
Wilhelm Löwenstein
Professor for Development
Research & Managing Director
Institute of Development
Research and Development Policy
Ruhr-University Bochum
(Germany)
For Ruhr-University Bochum(RUB), the Sylff Program provides a unique chance to develop our graduate students’ capacities in the field of European integration through common development, security, and economic policy. The program is yielding visible results in an impressive number of highquality master’s and doctoral theses from Sylff-supported international and German scholars who did their reserch at RUB.
Carlos Azzoni
Dean, School of Economics,
Administration and Accounting
University of São Paulo
(Brazil)
The Sylff Program is a benchmark for other programs at our university. Along with supporting the graduation of more than 130 graduate students, the program has spawned important spin-offs in the Sylff family. The Fellows Mobility Program expanded the reach of the Sylff Program in building lasting ties with other partners. The Brazilian Sylff Fellows Association is an active organization in promoting academic discussion and social action.The Sylff Program at the University of São Paulo (USP) is an unqualified success.
Usman Chatib Warsa
Former-Rector
University of Indonesia
(Indonesia)
Sylff has made a large contribution in providing financial assistance that has enabled our students to focus on their studies and on community service. Its follow-up programs have been remarkable in supporting the fellows’ personal development and intellectual growth and in fostering their networking skills through the worldwide Sylff network. Innovative ideas and initiatives have emerged from the Sylff Association of the University of Indonesia.
David Platt
Director
Center for International
Business Education and
Research
The University of Texas
at Austin (USA)
Business is global, and only through awareness of national and cultural differences can businesses act effectively and ethically. In our MBA program, Sylff reaches future business leaders who can multiply the impact of the Sylff Fellowships through their business conduct. By making our MBA students better, Sylff helps make the world a better place.
Jan Persens
Director, International Relations
University of the Western
Cape
(South Africa)
Sylff is a prestigious program that promotes academic excellence and leadership qualities. Its associated programs and activities demonstrate the dynamic interaction of the foundation with its beneficiaries. The eagerness of our fellows to participate in those activities is an indication of their positive attitude toward the Sylff Fellowships.
Yansun Wu
Special Assistant to the President
Chongqing University
(China)
The Sylff Program, inaugurated at Chongqing University in 1994, has made great contributions to the internationalization of higher education, as well as to progress in the disciplines of social sciences and humanities. The newly adopted Sylff Fellows Mobility Program will certainly enrich and expand Sylff’s positive influence in the graduate student community.
Julia González Ferreras
Vice-Rector - International
Relations
University of Deusto
(Spain)
Belonging to the extended Sylff family has helped our university to focus on leadership and propagate a culture of social responsibility in our community. The Sylff network has sparked and supported contacts and joint projects with fellow Sylff universities. Encounters with Sylff colleagues and Tokyo Foundation staff committed to the same vision have been a consistently uplifting and rewarding experience.
