Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia Honors student Bert Thompson Jr. has been awarded a Carnegie Junior Research Fellowship, becoming one of just 14 young scholars from across the nation to join the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a research assistant.
Thompson, who is from Macon, is expected to graduate in May with a double major in international affairs from the UGA School of Public and International Affairs and history from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. His fellowship will center on nuclear nonproliferation, a subject that has surrounded his coursework and experiential learning at UGA.
A recipient of the Foundation Fellowship, UGA’s premier academic scholarship, Thompson worked as a research intern at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Washington, D.C., and studied at the Hertog War Studies Program in Washington, D.C., the Center for the Study of Global Issues in Verona, Italy, and through the UGA at Oxford program. Thompson also served as a Richard B. Russell Security Leadership Scholar at UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security and as then-Congressman Jack Kingston’s military legislative intern at the U.S. Capitol. He also has researched nuclear proliferation and other international issues through the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities.
“I am so proud of Bert, and it has been a pleasure over the past four years to get to know him well and to watch him grow as a scholar and a leader,” said David S. Williams, associate provost and director of the Honors Program. “Bert’s success underscores the importance of experiential learning at UGA, since he has participated in a wide range of endeavors beyond the classroom including undergraduate research, study abroad and internships.”
Thompson has served as a Student Government Association executive cabinet member, a student advisory board member for the Office of the Vice President for Instruction, a student athletic representative for the UGA Athletic Association board of directors, a member of the Arch Society, assistant senior editor of the Georgia Political Review and as an Honors Program teaching assistant.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace offers one-year fellowships to graduating seniors or recent graduates to work as research assistants to the endowment’s senior associates. Fellows are chosen from a pool of nearly 400 applicants from participating universities.