McDonnell International Scholars Academy

The McDonnell International Scholars Academy was conceived by Washington University’s 14th Chancellor, Mark S. Wrighton, as the university’s lead globalization initiative.[10] The program is named after John F. McDonnell, who provided an initial $10 million gift to establish the Academy in 2005.[11][12] The first cohort of eighteen international scholars arrived on campus in 2006. Since then, the program has enabled more than 200 graduate and professional students from around the world to pursue advanced degrees at Washington University free of charge.

The Academy began as a partnership with 15 universities in Asia.[13] Since its inception, it has expanded geographically to include more than 30 partner universities on six continents. The Academy strives to have at least one scholar from each partner institution in residence at Washington University at all times.[14] It is “the first of its kind in the United States to create such a tie with foreign universities.”[3] U.S. scholars have participated in the program since 2012. An additional opportunity for international candidates from non-partner universities was introduced in 2020, expanding diversity and access for students from other countries.

Professor James Wertsch served as the Academy’s founding director. In 2018, Kurt Dirks, Bank of America Professor of Managerial Leadership, succeeded Wertsch as both director of the McDonnell Academy and vice chancellor for international affairs of Washington University.[15]  

The McDonnell Academy supports doctoral and professional Master’s degree students from around the world to pursue their studies at Washington University and prepares them for future leadership in government, business and other professional fields. Prospective scholars apply to the McDonnell Academy and also apply separately to eligible graduate or professional degree programs at one of Washington University’s seven academic schools. The Academy selects scholars based on outstanding academic potential and on applicants’ commitment to learning about international issues and global leadership. Admitted scholars receive full tuition, a living stipend and a travel allowance, while being exposed to leadership training and special educational and cultural events.[3]

Each scholar receives the individual guidance and mentorship of a Washington University faculty member, who serves as Ambassador to the scholar’s home university.[16] The Academy’s programming focuses on developing three core pillars: a global mindset, leadership and community. Distinctive programmatic activities include cohort trips to Washington, D.C. and to New York City where the scholars engage with leaders in business and government.[4][17]

The McDonnell Academy is a global partnership network comprising more than 30 universities.[18] Partner institutions share a commitment to excellence in research and to the importance of international collaboration. Faculty Ambassadors from Washington University act as liaisons to partner institutions and work to establish research and other collaborations.[16] Research efforts of the program include a bioenergy consortium that spans India and the US.[19]

List of partner universities[18]

Institution	Country
Boğaziçi University	Turkey
Budapest University of Technology and Economics	Hungary
China Agricultural University	China
Chulalongkorn University	Thailand
Fudan University	China
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay	India
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi	India
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya	Israel
Jawaharlal Nehru University	India
Keio University	Japan
Korea University	Korea
Middle East Technical University	Turkey
National Chiao Tung University	Taiwan
National Taiwan University	Taiwan
National University of Singapore	Singapore
Peking University	China
Seoul National University	Korea
State University of Campinas	Brazil
Tata Institute of Social Sciences	India
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology	Israel
Tecnológico de Monterrey	Mexico
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong
The University of Melbourne	Australia
The University of Queensland	Australia
Tsinghua University	China
University of Chile	Chile
University of Ghana	Ghana
University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong
University of Indonesia	Indonesia
University of Tokyo	Japan
Utrecht University	Netherlands
Washington University in St. Louis	United States
Xi'an Jiaotong University	China
Yonsei University	Korea

Beyond recruiting international scholars, the McDonnell Academy fosters research collaboration with the partnership network. Every two years, the Academy convenes an international symposium to share research achievements and discuss possible solutions to complex global challenges. The event is attended by the McDonnell Scholars, university presidents, faculty and graduate students from partner institutions, and it features speakers from academia, business and government.[5][20]

The inaugural symposium was held in May 2007 at Washington University in St. Louis and helped launch collaborative research activities with the partner universities in the areas of energy, the environment and sustainability.[21]  The 7th McDonnell Academy International Symposium was co-hosted with Tsinghua University in Beijing in October 2018 and focused on health and aging, energy and the environment, and agriculture, food and water.[22][23][24]