The MacArthur Fellowship

Hotchkiss MacArthur Fellows

Fellowship Goals

Each year, The MacArthur Fellowship—created through the generosity of Andrew MacArthur P'23 in honor of his father, Bill MacArthur '59—will offer three Hotchkiss graduates (graduating seniors and recent alumni who are current undergraduates) a grant to fund 100 percent of an international gap year opportunity. Fellows will spend a year outside of their home country engaged in a project that includes, but is not limited to, service, learning, internships, cultural immersion, and adventure. 

The Fellowship is designed to support ongoing growth and education by instilling competence in goal-setting; developing independence and confidence; enhancing problem-solving skills; supporting greater cultural competency; and helping Fellows gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of what and how they want to learn in their post-secondary studies.

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be Hotchkiss seniors on pace to graduate and in good academic standing (not on ARC); or alumni who have not completed their bachelor’s degree (within five years of graduation), are in good academic and disciplinary standing at their colleges or universities, and currently enrolled full time. 
  • Applicants must be 18 years old by the time they depart for their fellowship and unmarried.
  • Must complete the application process and meet all of its deadlines in a timely fashion without exception. 
  • Please be advised that no academic credit is awarded for the International Fellowship Year.

Proposals

Applicants must present a plan for their year-long international fellowship. The canvas is wide open as long as there is a unifying theme for the year. Proposals may include living and working in one country for a year or traversing the globe to spend time in multiple countries. Examples of unifying themes: spending time in France, India, and Laos studying how national health care systems address the needs of indigent patients; studying the history of religious art in Jerusalem, Istanbul, and Toledo, Spain; or analyzing government policies relating to renewable energy in Australia and New Zealand. 

The Application Process

Part I: Prospective Fellows will complete an extensive application that includes essays and a written commentary on their proposed plan. Part I is due on January 12, 2026. The application will be available in mid-August 2025. Check back to apply.

Members of the MacArthur Fellowship Advisory Board welcome the opportunity to discuss applicants' proposals and offer advice. Please log into Alumnet to access their biographies and contact information.

Part II: The selection committee will notify finalists and request a detailed budget and itinerary for their proposed Fellowship experiences. Finalists will also be asked to participate in finalist interviews via Zoom or in-person.

To access the Fellowship Guidebook, please visit the Resources section on Alumnet, the online Hotchkiss alumni community. Follow this link to sign in or to register for Alumnet.
 

Background

The MacArthur Fellowship was created in 2023 to honor William (Bill) MacArthur '59 through a gift by his son, Andrew MacArthur P'23.

Andrew MacArthur P'23, himself a devotee of world travel, was initially raised in Tokyo and spent a year traveling by VW camper van from Afghanistan to Amsterdam. He later spent 10 years studying and working in China and across Southeast Asia with The Wall Street Journal and International Herald Tribune.

Bill MacArthur '59 spent his entire career traveling the globe. This included a year after college teaching in the Philippines followed by a career practicing law in Japan, a stint in international banking, and 45 years of real estate investment and development in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the U.S. working with Saudi, Japanese, and Chinese partners. He has served as a board member or trustee with numerous charitable organizations involved in health, education, and conservation work in Tibet, India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central America.

The MacArthur Fellows

Second Cohort: 2025-26

Hotchkiss MacArthur Fellows Second Cohort

Christian Finlay '20 plans to study the intersection of humanitarian efforts, developmental finance, and public policy to understand the short-term and long-term strategies to foster sustainable peace in post-conflict societies. Through time spent in Jordan, Kenya, and El Salvador, he will work and volunteer in organizations that approach situations in vastly different manners from one other, aiming to gain an appreciation for the stakeholders at every stage. With the suspension of USAID and foreign spending at large, many humanitarian relief organizations are undergoing a sharp contraction; millions will be affected, and there may be no better time to witness the evolving process of sustainable reconstruction.

Devin Goldstein '21 will develop a deeper understanding of China and the broader East Asian region through both language immersion and early career experience. She will begin in mainland China, living with a host family and working as an au pair while studying Mandarin intensively. This phase is meant to strengthen her fluency and give her a grounded understanding of daily life, social dynamics, and local perspectives that aren’t accessible from the outside. Later in the year, she will be based in Hong Kong, where she plans to explore the region’s financial and investment landscape. Her interests lie at the intersection of emerging markets, development, and capital investing, and she hopes to gain practical exposure to how these systems operate in East Asia. She will build on her academic work in institutional economics and an internship in equity research at Bernstein, while also exploring other opportunities in impact-finance and sustainability-driven investing. She also plans to spend time in Taiwan, and possibly South Korea, to observe how different historical and political trajectories shape economic models across the region. This year is ultimately about building a base of language, context, and professional insight, all focused on a part of the world to which she is deeply connected.

Olya Sukonrat '21, a writer and multidisciplinary artist, will complete residencies, collaborate with creative collectives, and volunteer with art museums and galleries to expand her understanding of contemporary and local art in a non-American context. During her fellowship, she plans to spend six months in Europe (Greece and Germany) and six months in Asia (Japan and Indonesia). By dividing her time between both continents, she aims to explore local handicraft traditions and cultural and heritage preservation. Through immersive engagement, she hopes to enrich her own artistic practice and gain a deeper insight into how communities sustain creative lifestyles.

 

Inaugural Cohort: 2024-25

Jack Louchheim '20 graduated from Georgetown School of Foreign Service in May 2024. He plans to explore clean energy investment and development opportunities in Latin America—specifically the Andean region. He will begin his Fellowship in Chile and plans to travel to Argentina or Peru. Through internship experiences, he intends to “become knowledgeable about a variety of existing and emerging clean energy technologies such as solar, wind, geothermal, carbon capture, and green hydrogen, as well as the investors and innovators who are accelerating the energy transition in this region.”

Elise Nam '20 graduated from Barnard College in May 2024. She will explore permaculture in other cultures and study “alternatives to Western ideas of the good life.” She plans to volunteer in Australia, Costa Rica, Nepal, India, Peru, and Belize and learn from indigenous cultures, “documenting their knowledge and witnessing firsthand the impacts of climate change on these communities.” Her objective is to deepen her understanding of permaculture’s application so that she is “educated and empowered to create change globally, to advocate for others and the planet, and to lead by example.”

Jacob Zweiback '24 is a member of the University of Chicago Class of 2029. He says his gap year is a “snapshot of a college professor's responsibilities.” He will dedicate portions of his year to research and teaching. “I plan on conducting archival research at U.K. universities such as Cambridge and Oxford and spend some time in Hong Kong,” he said. “For the teaching part, I will spend time at a Round Square School in Germany assisting teachers in classes and helping with extracurricular activities. Throughout the year, I hope to grow as a person, connect with new people, and explore the world.” Hotchkiss is a member of Round Square, an internationally diverse network of more than 250 schools in 50 countries.

FAQs

The eligibility requirements state that alumni who have not earned their bachelor’s degree are eligible to apply. A current college senior who has not yet earned their degree at the time of application but expects to earn it by the time they depart for the Fellowship is still eligible.


More questions?

Please submit any additional questions to Rick Hazelton, Director of The Center for Global Understanding and Independent Thinking.