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Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow chosen for 2007

By Tom Vogel
January 28, 2007

International banking official Gretchen Handwerger will be on campus Feb. 19-24 as St. Olaf's 2007 Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow in Residence. Handwerger was selected by St. Olaf following consultation with a review committee including members of the Globalization Conference Planning Committee.

Professor of Psychology, Howard Thorsheim, campus coordinator of the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow program, says Handwerger was chosen from a short list of other influential world leaders for her ability to interact with students and faculty and bring a scholarly expertise in a vital field to the campus.

"Gretchen is a great choice for St. Olaf," Thorsheim says. "She's very interested in the role of women in global development and third world development. She's also committed to students and young people."

During her 25 years at the World Bank, Handwerger has acted as the bank's United Nations liaison and coordinated aid and lending projects in seven South Asian countries. Most recently she served as the bank's special representative to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Prior to working for the World Bank, she served as deputy and acting director of the U.S. Peace Corps, providing broad supervision of 6,500 volunteers and 800 staff members in 65 developing nations.

Throughout her week on campus Handwerger will share her expertise with the St. Olaf community. She will be available to meet for coffee or meals, speak in classes or have informal conversations with students and faculty. Typically, Woodrow Wilson Fellows meet with hundreds of students and dozens of faculty members during their time on campus. This year, Handwerger also will participate in St. Olaf's Globalization and Social Responsibility Conference, "Another World Is Possible," delivering the final lecture on Saturday, Feb. 24.

"The Woodrow Wilson Fellows really are amazing. They're the hardest working people on campus during the week of their visits," Thorsheim says. "They don't receive any fee for doing this. They simply believe strongly in a liberal arts education."

A HISTORY OF FELLOWS
According to Thorsheim, St. Olaf's reputation often attracts some of the most reputable Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows. "Because we get our requests in early and have a good relationship with the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, we usually get our first choice," he says. "St. Olaf has the reputation of having an engaged faculty and students who really want to work with the fellows. A sentiment often expressed by fellows following their visits is: 'it's been a good experience to come to St. Olaf. We've heard good things about it, and what we have heard is true.'"

Handwerger joins an illustrious group of leaders, innovators and educators who have come to campus as Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows since Professor Emeritus of Psychology Olaf Millert started the program at St. Olaf in the 1970s. Since then, visiting fellows have included Lord Caradon, framer of UN Resolution 242 (advocating an independent Palestinian state); Raymond Offenheiser, Oxfam America president; Paul Warnke, director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Carter administration; John and Janet Wallach, co-founders of "Seeds of Peace," an organization dedicated to securing lasting peace in the Middle East; and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch, president of the U.S.-China Education Trust.

Now in its 33rd year, the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program was established to encourage the flow of ideas between the academic and non-academic sectors of society and to connect a liberal education with the world beyond the campus.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.