Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will welcome 218 Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows from 93 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia on Monday, October 25, 2010, at 6:05 p.m., in the U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin Franklin Room. Co-hosted by Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock and Institute of International Education President Allan Goodman, the event is part of the Fellows’ Global Leadership Forum in Washington, DC, October 24–28, to network and share ideas.

The Humphrey Fellows are mid-career professionals in the United States for a year of non-degree graduate study and professional development, focused on topics such as food security, HIV/AIDS, human rights, climate change, education, public administration, and journalism. The 2010-2011 class is the largest in history. Forty-seven percent of this year’s Fellows are from countries with significant Muslim populations and nearly half are women.

The Humphrey Fellowship Program, a Fulbright exchange activity funded by the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), was launched in 1978 in honor of the late Vice President to encourage cooperation between international and U.S. experts working in public health, sustainable development, education, and democratic institution-building. Nominated by U.S. Embassies and Fulbright Commissions, the Fellows are selected through a highly competitive review process on the basis of their leadership potential and dedication to public service. Over 4,200 Humphrey Fellows representing 156 countries have participated.

This event will be open to credentialed members of the media.

Pre-set time for cameras: 5:00 p.m. from the C Street Entrance
Final access time for journalists and still photographers: 5:50 p.m. from the C Street Entrance

Media representatives may attend this event upon presentation of one of the following: (1) A U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver's license, passport).

PRESS CONTACTS:

U.S. Department of State, Office of Press Relations

Phone (202) 647-2492

U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Catherine Stearns

Phone (202) 632-6437 or StearnsCL@state.gov