The Luce Foundation Luce Scholars Program

Luce Scholars

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The Luce Scholars Program represents a major effort by the Henry Luce Foundation to provide an awareness of Asia among potential leaders in American society.

Launched in 1974, The Luce Scholars Program is aimed at a group of highly qualified young Americans in a variety of professional fields. It is unique among American-Asian exchanges in that it is intended for young leaders who have had no prior experience of Asia and who might not otherwise have an opportunity in the normal course of their careers to come to know Asia or their Asian counterparts. The program provides stipends and internships for eighteen young Americans to live and work in Asia each year.

Luce Scholar candidates are nominated by sixty-seven colleges and universities. Applications are submitted by eligible institutions in early December. The Luce Foundation cannot accept individual applications submitted directly to the foundation. Candidates must be American citizens who have received at least a bachelors degree and are no more than 29 years old on September 1 of the year they enter the program. Nominees should have a record of high achievement, outstanding leadership ability, and a clearly defined career interest with evidence of potential for professional accomplishment. Those who already have significant experience in Asia or Asian studies are not eligible for the Luce Scholars Program.

After an initial interview conducted by either a member of the foundation's staff or a former Luce Scholar, finalists meet with one of three selection panels who choose the eighteen Luce Scholars. Placements and support services for the Luce Scholars are provided by the Asia Foundation, an organization with field offices throughout Asia. The program begins in August and concludes the following July.

Luce Scholars have backgrounds in virtually any field - other than Asian studies - including medicine, the arts, business, law, science, environmental studies, and journalism. Placements can be made in the following countries in East and Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, China and Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In spite of its name, the Luce Scholars Program is experiential rather that academic in nature. Some Scholars have been attached to Asian universities in teaching or research capacities, but none of the participants is formally enrolled as a student in a college or university and no academic credit is extended.

Internships are arranged for each Scholar on the basis of his or her specific interest, background, qualifications, and experience. These work assignments run for approximately ten months-from September until July of the following year and are intended primarily as learning opportunities for the Scholars. Certainly it is hoped that a Scholar will be able to make a professional contribution to the host organization, but equally important is a willingness to learn some of the many things that Asia has to teach.

Specific placements have included the ateliers of several leading Japanese architects; English-language newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong, Singapore, Pnomh Penh, Bangkok, and elsewhere; a forestry project in Indonesia; veterinary research in Mongolia; a family planning center in Taiwan; the Olympic Organizing Committee in Seoul; a pediatric hospital in Bangkok; and a number of local governmental agencies throughout East and Southeast Asia. The range of assignments is as broad as the range of talents and interests that the Scholars have taken with them to Asia.

The program is designed as a cultural experience first and foremost. Each Scholar’s placement provides a professional venue and perspective, but the assignments themselves must be viewed as a mechanism through which to gain a broader understanding and appreciation of the culture in which one is living. As a purely professional experience, the year in Asia may not prove as satisfying as a similar assignment at home. Differences in management style, political systems, work environments, and resource limitations often stand in the way of occupational fulfillment.

In Asia, the program is administered by the Asia Foundation under a cooperative arrangement that dates from the program’s inception. The Asia Foundation, based in San Francisco, is a private not-for-profit agency active in development and education throughout Asia. Its field representatives in Asian capitals assist in identifying appropriate job placements for the Scholars and in providing administrative support during the program year. A senior staff member of The Asia Foundation serves as Program Coordinator for the Scholars, working in close collaboration with the staff of the Luce Foundation.

Program Year

“The Luce Scholar Year” involves a commitment of slightly less than eleven months - from late August until mid-July of the following year.

Since none of the Scholars – by definition – has a deep background in Asian affairs, the program year commences with an orientation designed to give an overview of contemporary Asia that will assist the Scholars in making the most of their assignments. The Luce Foundation has convened this orientation program late in August on the campus of Princeton University. In the course of one week, the Scholars have an opportunity to meet with a number of leading scholars, diplomats, journalists, and other professionals who have made Asia the focus for their careers.
After the Princeton sessions, the Scholars travel as a group to San Francisco to visit The Asia Foundation where they participate in country-specific orientation. The Scholars travel from San Francisco to their respective placement sites in Asia.

During the first few days in their countries of assignment, the Scholars work with The Asia Foundation’s representative and local staff on various matters involved in taking up residence abroad. The actual internships generally commence a few days after the Scholar’s arrival in country in September. These assignments, working alongside Asian colleagues, are the heart of the Luce Scholars Program. In late November, the group meets for several days in Hong Kong to continue their orientation process. Seminars are held, led by lecturers from some of the nations to which the Scholars have been assigned. Ample time is also provided for discussion between the individual Scholars and staff of The Asia Foundation and the Luce Foundation.

At the end of the year in Asia, the Luce Scholars gather once more for a final evaluation session. Each Scholar is required to present a report at this meeting – a report both written and oral – on his or her experiences in Asia. The session is usually held at a place in Asia that most Scholars will be unlikely to visit during the course of the year. Past venues have included Davao City in the southern Philippines, Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Danang on Vietnam’s coast and the People’s Republic of China.

At the conclusion of the evaluation session, the program year ends. Each Scholar receives a return ticket to his or her permanent residence in the United States.

Selection

The annual selection of eighteen Luce Scholars is rigorous. Each candidate must first be nominated by one of the colleges or universities participating in the program. These institutions submit to the Luce Foundation two nominees annually from among their graduating seniors, graduate and professional school students, or their recent alumni. Those institutions that were successful in nominating a finalist in the previous year’s competition are allowed to present a third nominee.

Luce Scholar candidates are nominated by sixty-seven colleges and universities. Applications submitted directly to the foundation cannot be accepted. The participating colleges and universities are chosen to represent a broad cross-section of American higher education. The list is revised from time to time in order to allow more of the nation’s campuses to take part.

After institutional nominations, candidates are interviewed in December and January. On the basis of both the documentation submitted and interviews conducted, the staff of the Foundation refers no more than forty-five finalists to three regional selection committees.

The forty-five finalists are chosen without regard to geography or professional interests. The Luce Foundation determines the specific regional selection committee before which a given finalist is invited to appear, primarily on the basis of proximity. Finalists’ travel and hotel costs are assumed by the Luce Foundation.

Each of the selection committees is composed of six distinguished Americans from a wide range of professional backgrounds who serve as advisors to the foundation. These panels meet in New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco in late February and early March. Each panel meets with fifteen of the designated finalists. From that number, each panel identifies six Luce Scholars for the coming year.

All finalists are notified of the actions of the three selection committees within a few days of their meeting, and in no case later than the fifteenth of March. Consultations with the new Luce Scholars about possible assignments in Asia begin immediately thereafter.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Luce Scholars Program, a candidate must be an American citizen who has earned at least a bachelor’s degree (or expects to receive that degree before taking part in the program.) Candidates must be in good health and no more than twenty-nine years of age on September first of the year they would enter the program.

Candidates should have a record of the highest academic achievement, combined with the evidence of outstanding leadership ability. Candidates must have a mature and clearly defined career goal in a specific field and must give evidence of potential for professional accomplishment within that field. Personal characteristics that typify successful candidates include creativity, maturity, initiative, self-confidence, breadth of interest, enthusiasm, and sensitivity.

Applications cannot be considered from those who already have had significant exposure to Asian culture or who have a specific career interest in Asian affairs. The object of the Luce Scholars Program is to provide and intensive experience in Asia for those who would not, in the normal course of their careers, expect to have such an exposure.

Luce Scholars are chosen without regard to sex, race, religion, ethnic background, marital status, or financial need.

Stipend and Allowance

Luce Scholars receive a monthly stipend from the Luce Foundation through the period of their participation. The stipend, augmented when necessary by the allowances described herein, is sufficient to meet all of the Scholars’ normal expenses in Asia. Although Luce Scholars occupy professional positions in Asian institutions or agencies as a part of their assignment, they receive no compensation from their local sponsors.

In addition to the basic stipend, a special cost-of-living allowance is paid to the Scholars assigned to areas where such costs are significantly higher than in the United States. Similarly, a supplementary housing allowance may be provided in locations where housing costs present a particular problem. Both of these allowances are calculated on formulas designed to assure parity among the Scholars wherever they may be assigned.

Economy class air transportation is provided for all travel required by the program. The foundation also pays the cost of a onetime air freight shipment in each direction of 100 pounds of personal effects for each adult. Finally, medical and travel insurance are provided for all Scholars and their spouses. All other expenses incurred during the Scholars’ participation in the program must be met from the basic stipend and allowances.

Language

Since the program is geared to the non-specialist, prior knowledge of an Asian language obviously is not a criterion for selection.

However, language study prior to departure for Asia is a program requirement and is supported financially by the Henry Luce Foundation. A basic knowledge of the local language gives the Scholars an access and understanding of the society in which they are living that can be achieved no other way. Foundation support is provided to those Scholars who enroll in an intensive language program on a fulltime basis for six weeks or more during the summer prior to their departure for Asia. More modest assistance is available for at least 30 hours of language tutoring for Scholars whose other commitments make an intensive summer program of language study impossible. All Scholars are encouraged to continue language study while in Asia, and special funds are available for this purpose.