See Where Our Scholars Have Explored
In any given year, Luce Scholars are living and working throughout Northeast, Southeast, and South Asia. They are in big cities and small villages, working in such diverse fields as public health, the arts, economic development, environmental science, and many more. The Scholars contribute their talents to NGOs, government agencies, private companies, universities, think tanks, and museums. You can see where this year’s Scholars are on the map below or use the filters to customize your view. You can also use the directory of scholars to search all cohorts, countries, and fields.
Past Luce Scholars have been placed in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Timor Leste.
Overview
Established in 1974, the Luce Scholars Program is a nationally competitive fellowship that offers early-career leaders immersive, professional experiences in Asia. We aim to forge stronger relationships across geographic borders by creating opportunities for young Americans to deepen their ties and understanding of the countries, cultures, and people of Asia.
Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, the Luce Scholars Program provides stipends, language training, and individualized professional placement in Asia for 18 Luce Scholars each year. We welcome applications from college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals in a variety of fields, with a range of backgrounds and experiences, who have had limited exposure to Asia.
Today, there are about 800 Luce Scholars alumni living around the world, making invaluable contributions as global leaders and citizens and building lifelong professional relationships that began with this program. Their experiences demonstrate that there is no better way to build mutual understanding and a sense of common purpose than through sustained, immersive, in-person engagement with others.
Applications for the 2024–2025 Luce Scholars competition have closed.
The Luce Scholars Experience
The Luce Scholar year is a 13-month commitment beginning with the orientation in June through the wrap-up meeting in July of the following year.
After a series of virtual sessions that begin in April and a five-day in-person orientation program in Asia in late June (all designed to build community and prepare for a year of living and working in Asia), Luce Scholars spend July and August engaging in intensive language training in their respective placement countries. Language study is a program requirement and is fully funded by the Luce Foundation through the intensive two-month period with additional funds available to each Luce Scholars for continued language training throughout their Luce year.
Individually tailored professional placements—a hallmark of the Luce Scholars program—begin in early September and are arranged for each Scholar based on their professional interest, background, and qualifications. These assignments, where Luce Scholars work alongside Asian colleagues, are the heart of the Luce Scholar experience.
What We Look For
Since its founding, the Luce Scholars Program has sought to spread experience of the region far beyond those who are interested in building their professional careers around engagement in Asia. We are committed to engaging young professionals who might not otherwise have an opportunity to get to know and build professional networks in Asia.
Luce Scholars are open-minded, curious, and engaged in the world. They are open to new ideas and new perspectives. They are individuals from a wide range of fields and come from a variety of backgrounds, but all share a common objective—to make the world a better place.
The Program seeks Scholars who demonstrate the following traits and interests:
- Exploratory curiosity
- Interest and embrace of diverse perspectives, beliefs, and modes of living
- Adaptability
- Open-mindedness
- Resilience
- Humility
- Commitment to serving and supporting others
Program Administrators
Michelle Douenias is Senior Program Manager for Luce Scholars at the Henry Luce Foundation. In this role, she runs the day-to-day aspects of the Luce Scholars Program, the admissions process and oversees The Asia Foundation grant. Michelle's journey with the Luce Foundation began with her role as program assistant for both the Luce Scholars and the Clare Boothe Luce Programs, followed by a stint as program associate and event coordinator for Luce Scholars. Before joining the Luce Foundation in 1990, Michelle worked as a jewelry designer and briefly taught K–12th grade art. She earned her B.A. and teaching certificate in fine arts from Ohio Wesleyan University.
Beyond her work at the Luce Foundation, Michelle currently serves on the National Association of Fellowship Advisors Biennial Conference Foundations Subcommittee. Her commitment to community service is evident through her many volunteer roles in the Morris School District and local community. Notably, she served as a Board of Trustees member for the Morris Educational Foundation from 2013 to 2019.
Aida Gureghian is the program director for leadership at the Henry Luce Foundation. She previously served as the assistant dean for professional development at the Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University, where she designed and implemented innovative programming to cultivate leadership and public engagement skills. Aida also served as the assistant dean for students at NYU, where she launched several pathway programs for underrepresented students. Prior to pursuing a career in higher education administration, she taught history at the University of Pennsylvania and Brooklyn College. Aida earned her bachelor's degree in history from UCLA, her MPhil from Oxford University, and her PhD in history from the University of Pennsylvania.
