The Asia Foundation : Luce Scholars Program

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Luce Scholars Program

Luce Scholars Program

The Luce Scholars Program promotes and broadens an awareness of Asia among young future leaders. Launched in 1974, the program targets highly-qualified young Americans - under the age of 29 – across a variety of professional fields, including but not limited to the arts, journalism, law, medicine, science, public health, environmental studies, and international relations. The Asia Foundation has overseen the program in Asia since its inception nearly four decades ago. Meet the Scholars.

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The Luce Scholars Program is unique among American-Asian exchanges in that it is intended for young leaders who have had limited experience of Asia and who might not otherwise have an opportunity in the course of their careers to come to know Asia. The program provides stipends, language training, and individualized professional placement in Asia for up to eighteen scholars every year.

The heart of the year-long program continues to lie in the organizational placements arranged by The Asia Foundation for each Scholar on the basis of their individual career interests and experience. The Asia Foundation's long history on the ground in Asia across all regions has created an extraordinary network of relationships and knowledge of institutions and organizations.

The range of organizations that have hosted Luce Scholars over the years reflects the extraordinary dynamism and rich diversity of Asia, and is as broad as the scope of talents and interests of the Scholars themselves. Placements institutions have included the Academy of Performing Arts in Bali; the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in Seoul; CCTV International in Beijing; the Lao Bar Association in Vientiane; the Eastern Steppe Biodiversity Project in Ulaanbaatar; and, the Vietnam Institute of Archeology in Hanoi.

Placements for Luce Scholars are made in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Since 1974, nearly 600 Luce Scholars have completed their year-long fellowships, and have gone on to demonstrate extraordinary leadership in their personal and professional careers.

The Luce Scholars program is a living testament to the commitment of both The Asia Foundation and the Henry Luce Foundation to building understanding and appreciation of Asia, and to strengthening the relationship between the United States and Asia one person at a time.