APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Each of the college and universities invited to participate in the Luce Scholars Program has designated a member of its faculty or staff to serve as the Foundation’s institutional liaison for this program. A participating institution may submit two nominations (or three nominations if they have successfully places a candidate in the finals of the previous year’s competition). The Luce Scholars liaison on each campus will establish procedures for internal candidate review and will provide potential candidates with the requisite application documents. Completed documentation on each of the institution’s nominees must be submitted to The Henry Luce Foundation (see address below) to arrive no later than the first Monday in December. Nominations must be submitted by the Luce Scholar liaisons and not by individual candidates.

Each nominee must complete the documents listed below and submit them to his/her campus Luce Scholar Liaison for forwarding to the Luce Foundation. All such materials become part of the Luce Foundation’s files and cannot be returned.

§ Biographic Information Form. Please use the application form provided; do not attach separate resume.

§ Personal Statement. A signed typewritten or computer generated document of no more that 1,000 words outlining (a) long range career interests, how they have developed, and plans for pursuing them in the future; and (b) reasons for applying to The Luce Scholars Program.

§ Academic Transcripts. Official transcripts of all college and graduate work.

§ Two Recent Passport-size Photographs (black & white preferred). Name should be printed on the back of both photos.

§ Four Letters of Recommendation. Whenever possible, letters should be typewritten and represent a range of academic, professional, and personal references.

§ Address Information Card.

An initial screening of the nominees will be made by the Luce Foundation during December and January. A personal interview with each nominee will be held during this period at a location convenient to both the nominee and the Foundation.

Early in February, approximately forty-five finalists will be selected from the total pool of nominees. They will be invited to appear, at Foundation expense, before one of the three regional selection committees that meet in late February and early March. Each of these committees will interview eighteen finalists: each will select six Luce Scholars. All eighteen Luce Scholars will have been named by mid-March. Nominees eliminated from consideration will receive timely notification.

ELIGIBILITY

Nominees must be American citizens who have not reached their 30^th birthday by September 1^st of the year they enter the program.

Nominees must have earned at least a bachelor’s degree or reasonable expect to receive that degree by September 1^st of the year they enter the program.

Nominees must be in good physical health.

Nominees need not presently be on campus. They may be selected from the class of graduating seniors at the nominating institution, from ranks of recent Alumni, from graduate or professional students, from recent recipients of advanced or professional degrees at the institution, or from junior faculty.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

Nominees should have a strong, mature, and clearly defined career interest in a specific field. Any professional field will be considered, with one exception – Asian Affairs (see below.)

Nominees should have demonstrated a strong motivation and potential for accomplishment within their chosen field.

Nominees should have a record of outstanding academic achievement, particularly in their specialty.

Nominees should have given evidence of an outstanding capacity for leadership.

Nominees should have more than usual openness to new ideas and sensitivity to their fellow human beings.

Please keep in mind that the single most important consideration is that a nominee give evidence of potential for leadership and accomplishment, both within a chosen profession and as a member of the broader American community.

Some estimate should be made about how well the nominee will function in an Asian setting, noting such qualities as flexibility, adaptability, tact, sensitivity, and personal initiative.

Nominees should not be judged on the basis of whether or not they have developed specific plans for the Asian experience. A contender may have general ideas about the kind of placement preferred, but this should not be considered as either a negative or positive factor.

PROSCRIPTIONS

Nominees will be considered ineligible if they have made that an area of academic concentration. Asian Affairs would include Asian language, literature, history, politics, philosophy, or any other aspect of Asian studies. A single course or two in these areas, however, would not disqualify an individual.

Nominees will also be considered ineligible if they have already had a significant exposure to East or Southeast Asia, whether through service at the Peace Corps, a period of foreign study or residence in Asia, or extensive travel in that region.

Keep in mind that the intent if the Program is to provide an intensive experience in Asia for an outstanding group of young Americans who would not, during the normal course of their careers, expect to have such an exposure.

Click this Link to go to the Application: Luce Scholars Application Form