Congratulations, Rebecca, for joining the Peace Scholar Fellows!

USIP's Peace Scholar Fellowship program awards non-residential fellowships to Ph.D. candidates enrolled at U.S. universities who are writing doctoral dissertations on topics related to conflict management, peacebuilding, and security studies. Since 1988, the program has supported the dissertations of 408 scholars, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in research, higher education, and policymaking.

The United States Institute of Peace is a national, nonpartisan, independent institute founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical, and essential for U.S. and global security. The Institute works with local partners in conflict zones abroad to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict. To reduce future crises and the need for costly interventions, USIP works with governments and civil societies to build local capacities to manage conflict peacefully. The Institute pursues its mission by linking research, policy, training, analysis, and direct action to support those working to build a more peaceful, inclusive world.

Rebecca Wai, a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, received APSA’s 2023 Centennial Center Summer Grant. She also presented at the 2023 APSA Annual Meeting on a panel titled "New Insights on NGOs in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities.” She helped organize and presented at the University of Michigan's Interdisciplinary Workshop in Comparative Politics in October 2023. Rebecca recently started as a Rackham/Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies (WCED) Doctoral Intern with Freedom House – an internship aimed at merging academia and the practice of promoting global democracy.