Two students named Anne Wexler Scholars

Social enterprise solutions to long-term poverty and research into malnutrition among Australian indigenous people are the two topics that will be the focus of two Harvard students receiving inaugural Anne Wexler Australian-American Studies Scholarships in Public Policy. One scholar from Australia and one from the United States will be chosen annually for this prestigious new award.

Caroline Adler, a master’s student in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, is the inaugural Australian winner. Her research explores innovative workforce development policy interventions, and her goal is to develop social enterprise solutions to help urban Australians who experience long-term poverty to gain work skills and achieve increased economic opportunities.

Katherine Thurber ’11, a student in social/cognitive neuroscience and global health/health policy, is the inaugural U.S. winner of the award. Thurber will use her scholarship to undertake a master of philosophy degree at the Australian National University’s National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, studying malnutrition among Aboriginal Australians.

The scholars were presented with their certificates April 18 at the Australian ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C.