Fund Aims to Strengthen IIASA and Pardee RAND Connections
YSSP Roger Levien Fellows to date, clockwise from top left: Zhimin Mao, Swaptik Chaudhury, Jalal Awan, Sara Turner, and John Luke Irwin, with IIASA and Pardee RAND logos
April 10, 2023
Since 2015, a donation from RAND alum Roger Levien has provided summer fellowships for Pardee RAND students to work at the International Institute of Advanced Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna, Austria. Now, a scholarship fund seeks to extend the reach of Levien’s generosity.
IIASA and RAND have a long and noteworthy history. Levien, who left RAND and joined the institute in 1975 as its second director, established the Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP)—influenced by his own experience as RAND's first summer associate in the 1950s.
Zhimin Mao was the first Levien YSSP Fellow, in 2015, followed by John Luke Irwin and Sara Turner in 2018, Swaptik Chowdhury in 2022, and Jalal Awan this coming summer.
“The Roger Levien Fellowship enriched my RAND experiences and allowed me to conduct research with IIASA’s world class experts while building life-long friendships with young fellows and researchers from all over the world,” Mao said.
The Roger Levien Fellowship enriched my RAND experiences and allowed me to conduct research with IIASA’s world class experts while building life-long friendships with young fellows and researchers from all over the world
—Zhimin Mao
To honor Levien’s commitment to IIASA, RAND, and YSSP, the Friends of IIASA is raising funds to sustain long-term support for the Roger Levien IIASA-RAND YSSP Fellowship.
“The benefits of these Fellowships will reach far beyond the impact on the lives and careers of the individuals who receive them,” said Pardee RAND professor Robert Lempert, a member of the fundraising committee. “IIASA, RAND, and Pardee RAND will also gain through the interaction.”
In its 45 years, YSSP has brought more than 2,000 doctoral students from around the world to the Institute, where they spend the summer working on projects supervised by IIASA mentors. Fellows leave the program with a completed research paper, rich interdisciplinary and international experience, and a global network of colleagues who can continue to enrich their lives and their careers.
Lempert also has first-hand knowledge of IIASA, having spent a sabbatical at the institute.
“IIASA and Pardee RAND both aim to understand the complex problems facing the world,” he added. “Working together on those issues will ultimately be of benefit to the interconnected physical and social systems on which 21st century life depends.”
The group’s initial goal is to raise between $75,000 and $150,000, enough to support the Fellowship for ten to twenty years. Levien YSSP Fellows receive airfare and a modest stipend sufficient to cover living expenses in Vienna, which runs about $7,500 per person. In addition to Lempert, Min Mao is also a member of the committee.
To learn more, contact Rob Lempert at lempert@rand.org