Gaining Leadership Skills & In-Depth Knowledge of China through the Schwarzman Scholars' Program [Show Summary]

Dr. Rob Garris, Global Director of Admissions for the Schwarzman Scholars Program, discusses the Schwarzman Scholars’ program and admissions policies. Through the program, participants from around the world earn a Masters in Global Affairs at Tsingua University in Beijing. The entire program is focused on providing the scholars with in-depth knowledge of China while developing their global knowledge and leadership skills. Modeled after the Rhodes Trust, Schwarzman Scholars provides full tuition, room and board, and a stipend to participants during the year of study.

Dr. Rob Garris, Global Director of Admissions, Speak About the Schwarzman Scholars' Program [Show Notes]

Today’s guest, Dr. Rob Garris, earned his Ph.D in European History from UNC in 1998. While at UNC he also launched his career in academic administration when he worked as the Director for Educational Programs for UNC’s Center for European Studies. That was followed by other positions including a stint as Senior Associate Dean for Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation. All these positions prepared him for his current role. Since 2014 Rob has worked as the Global Director of Admissions for the Schwarzman Scholars Program, where he oversaw the development of the Admissions Office for Schwarzman Scholars and has spearheaded recruitment efforts.

Let’s start with the basics since there are probably listeners who aren’t familiar with the Schwarzman Scholars program. What is the Schwarzman Scholars program? [2:15]

The Schwarzman Scholars program is an educational and leadership development program designed to ensure that decades from now there are people in leadership roles in every part of the world and in every major professional field who are better at what they do because they understand China and who also function together as a network and as an intermediary between China and the world. China is already playing an important role in many different aspects in global trends. We think it is important that people have factual knowledge of how China interacts with the rest of the world coupled with professional and interpersonal relationships so there can be much smoother flows of information between China and other major world powers.

At Tsinghua there is a very strong academic program developed by Tsinghua and other universities around the world about how China relates to the rest of the world. In addition to the classroom experience, we give students incredible opportunities to learn outside of the university about China and its role– students travel around the country, visit with professionals in fields they are interested in, discuss topics including the environment, health, technology, and urban planning. We also match each scholar with a senior mentor in his/her field to learn in a firsthand way from someone who has been successful in that field. At the end of the year we help place scholars into an internship-like experience to continue learning in a workplace environment. We have relationships with 70+ institutions in Beijing so students can end their year with a very practical hands-on experience.

Can you give us a bit of background on how it came into being? [7:44]

The program was inspired by a particular moment in the prof...