The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs Announces MOU with the U.S. Navy for Fellowship Program

Posted May 13, 2019

The Georgia Insitute of Technology’s global footprint took another step forward last month as the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the School and the U.S. Navy to initiate the placement of a Federal Executive Fellow at Georgia Tech beginning this fall.

The MOU was led by Nunn School Associate Professor Margaret E. Kosal. The Federal Executive Fellowship Program provides the opportunity for Naval officers between the ranks of lieutenant commander and captain to pursue independent research at Georgia Tech, in addition to access to workshops and seminars on campus.

“The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is an ideal place for a Navy Fellow because of the deep and broad expertise within the School on topics of strategic importance to the Navy, such as Asian politics, proliferation, space policy, and science and technology in international affairs,” Kosal said.

The Navy Fellow, who will reside at Georgia Tech for the 2019-20 academic year, will also audit classes in topics like international security, international relations theory, qualitative research methods, modeling, and specific elective courses related to their research.

The MOU states that the, “Navy values the ability to place due course officers at select universities such as Georgia Tech to broaden their understanding of national security-related issues and meet specific Navy needs.”

This new partnership with the Navy builds on existing military fellowships on campus. The U.S. Army Fellowship started at Georgia Tech in 2013, followed by the U.S. Air Force Fellowship in 2017.

“Six years ago Georgia Tech did not have any of these prestigious military fellows on campus,” Kosal said. “Now, Georgia Tech will have senior service fellows from each of the military services. That puts us in a select small group of universities.”

The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.