Yale University Announces Selection of First Ukrainian Yale World Fellow

New Haven, Conn. – Yale University announced the selection of the managing partner of Shevchenko Didkovskiy & Partners, Ukranian Igor Shevchenko, as one of the University’s 2006 Yale World Fellows. Shevchenko, 35, is the first Yale World Fellow to be selected from Ukraine.

The Yale World Fellows Program—the only program of its kind—aims to build a global network of emerging leaders and to broaden international understanding. The Program conducts a worldwide competition each year to select 18 highly accomplished men and women from diverse fields and countries for a 4-month leadership program at Yale. Yale President Richard C. Levin announced the selection of the 2006 Yale World Fellows saying, “The World Fellows Program is a crucial component of Yale’s continuing globalization efforts. I look forward to welcoming this extraordinary new class of World Fellows to Yale.”

 Shevchenko is the founder and managing partner of Shevchenko Didkovskiy & Partners, the leading law firm in Ukraine. He is also the founder and president of the Ukrainian Bar Association. He is a leading advocate in reforming the legal profession and combating corruption in the Ukrainian court system, aiming to support the development of civil society and improving the investment climate in Ukraine. Shevchenko was also selected a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader; is a member of the National Commission on Strengthening Democracy and Promoting Rule of Law in Ukraine, an advisory organ to the president of Ukraine; a member of the Entrepreneurs Council under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine; and the founder of the Forum of Young Ukrainian Leaders.

“It is a remarkable privilege to have been selected to the Yale World Fellows Program. I am excited to share experiences with my colleagues in the Program, all of whom are committed to making a difference in their countries,” said Shevchenko. “I believe my work will benefit enormously from the dialogue that the Fellowship facilitates both within the Program and throughout the University.”

Selected from outside the U.S. at an early mid-career point, World Fellows come from a range of fields, including government, business, media, non-governmental organizations, the military, religion, and the arts. Joining Shevchenko this year are the deputy CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the minister of finance of Costa Rica, and a top correspondent at Egypt’s most widely read newspaper.

“The 2006 Yale World Fellows each have a remarkable record of leadership and achievement,” said Yale World Fellows Program Director Daniel C. Esty, the Hillhouse

Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale. “Most exciting is their potential for future leadership on the global stage. I am confident that the Program will help them further develop that capacity.”

This year, the Program selection process was especially intense—the Fellows were selected from a pool of 1,200 candidates from 136 different countries. A multi-level selection process narrowed the field to 100 short-listed candidates from which the 18 World Fellows were chosen, 10 of whom represent countries new to the Program’s network. Since its inception in 2002, 88 World Fellows from 61 different countries have been accepted to the Program.

From September to December, the 2006 World Fellows will engage in a specially designed seminar taught by some of Yale’s most eminent faculty; take any of the 3,000 courses offered at the University; participate in weekly dinners with distinguished guest speakers; receive individualized skill-building training; and meet with U.S. and foreign leaders. Past World Fellows have met with Kofi Annan, John Negroponte, Jeff Sachs, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Tom Friedman, among others.

The Program covers all of the World Fellows’ expenses—tuition fees, housing, travel, and health care; and grants them a $30,000 living stipend. In addition, all World Fellows, both past and present, are invited to a biennial “Return to Yale” forum where current and alumni Fellows meet and build a global network of world leaders as well as renew their ties to Yale.

The Yale World Fellows Program has at its core three main goals: to provide advanced global leadership training to emerging leaders from a diverse set of fields and countries, to link these world leaders to each other and to Yale in a tangible way, and to facilitate the internationalization of the University.

Nominations to the 2007 Yale World Fellows Program are now being accepted online at: www.yale.edu/worldfellows.