The U.S. Department of State has named Syed Rizvi, professor of food science, as a Jefferson Science Fellow. As a signer of a Jefferson Science Fellowship memorandum of understanding, Cornell is eligible to nominate two fellowship candidates per year. Rizvi was selected following interviews with three different panels at the State Department. Fellows spend one year at the department, working to engage American academic science and engineering communities in U.S. foreign policy. A stipend of $50,000 is provided to offset the costs of moving and temporary living quarters in Washington.

This is the fourth group of fellows selected since the program was established in 2003 as an initiative of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State to further build capacity for science, technology and engineering expertise within the department.

The fellowship program is based on the premise that science and technology make fundamental contributions to the security, economic health and cultural foundations of modern societies, and are integral to the development and implementation of foreign policy. The program is administered on behalf of the Department of State by the National Research Council of the National Academies.

More information about the program can be found on the Web at http://www.national-academies.org/jsf.