Weissman Program interns get set to see the world

The Weissman International Internship Program, established by Paul ’52 and Harriet Weissman in 1994, provides sophomores and juniors with the opportunity to intern abroad in a field of work related to their career and academic goals. The Weissman Program enables students to develop a richer understanding of the global community in which they live and work, and provides an opportunity for them to share their experiences with the Harvard community when they return.

“We felt that the best way to help students learn about a culture is to work in that culture,” reflected Paul Weissman at a May 2 program luncheon. Twenty-nine students will join the 329 Weissman Program alumni who have interned abroad since the program’s inception.

The 2008 Weissman interns will work in a wide range of private and public sector organizations in business, education, the environment, government, health and medicine, law, media, the arts, public policy, science, and human rights. Three of the 16 countries that the interns will visit this year are new destinations for the Weissman Program: Mali, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone.

The 2008 Weissman International Internship Program recipients are Lois Beckett ’09, Kaitlyn Coil ’10, Samuel Enumah ’10, Judith Fan ’10, Samantha Fang ’10, Abigail Fradkin ’09, Anika Grubbs ’09, Neagheen Homaifar ’10, Medha Khandelwal ’10, June-Ho Kim ’09, Christopher Lewis ’09, Khang Nguyen ’09, Michael Nguyen ’09, Elizabeth Nowak ’10, Ravi Parikh ’09, Natasha Platt ’10, Benjamin Schwartz ’10, Sarah Sherman ’09, Merav Silverman ’10, Alice Speri ’09, Bishnu Thapa ’10, Brett Thomas ’10, Joseph Thumpasery ’10, Amanda Wallace ’10, Katharine Walter ’10, Charles Wells ’10, Benjamin Wu ’10, Xiang Ling Yap ’10, and Erin Yu ’10.

The International Experience Program (IEP) at the Office of Career Services administers the Weissman International Internship Program. Information meetings for interested students are held in the fall, and applications are due in early February. For more information, contact the IEP office at (617) 495-3530 or visit http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/students/global/weissman/weissman.htm.