The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Arab Republic of Egypt announced today the creation of a new fellowship program to provide financial support to students from Egypt to study engineering and other subjects at MIT. This program has been established by an endowment of $18 million from the Arab Republic of Egypt to finance prestigious "Egypt Fellowships" designed to enable highly qualified Egyptians to pursue graduate studies at MIT and to prepare them for leadership roles.
"While the fellowships will broaden opportunities for Egyptian students to gain an MIT education, MIT will benefit immeasurably from their perspective and experiences as well," said MIT President Susan Hockfield. "Our graduates form a global network of leadership, and these fellowships will only make it stronger."
Egyptian Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who received his PhD in economics from MIT in 1981, joined Hockfield this week in Cairo in signing the agreement establishing the endowed fellowship program. "The fellowships established through this program will help train a new generation of engineers and technologists at MIT who may one day play leadership roles in Egyptian society," said Boutros-Ghali.
The Egypt Fellowships will be administered by Steven Lerman, vice chancellor and dean for graduate education, through the Office of the Dean for Graduate Education (DGE).
"The generous support provided by the Egyptian government and its partners will make it possible to provide the fellowships that are essential to attracting the most talented students to MIT and enabling them to take the best advantage of an MIT graduate education," Lerman said. "We very much look forward to welcoming them on campus."
The new program will support qualified masters and doctoral students in engineering and other disciplines. It will support up to 10 students. The Egyptian government has initiated a search for highly qualified Egyptian students to serve as the inaugural fellows.
