Pitt MBA Student Wins Marshall Memorial Fellowship

February 4, 2003

PITTSBURGH—Sara H. Aros, a master of business administration (MBA) candidate in the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, has been awarded the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States.

Aros is among 63 people selected from 18 states to receive the award. The 2003 American Marshall Memorial Fellows were selected through a competitive review process and come from areas including politics, government, the media, business, and the nonprofit sector.

The fellows will spend three weeks in Europe examining European institutions and exploring European and transatlantic economic, political, and social issues. Three groups of 21 fellows will travel to Europe this year in March, May, and October, respectively.

The goal of the fellowship is to educate the next generation of American leaders on the importance of the transatlantic relationship and to equip them with the knowledge to work with their European counterparts on a range of international and domestic issues.

While working for language teaching services in South Korea from 1991 to 1993, then in Chile in 1993, Aros taught English as a second language to executives from those countries. Eventually, she established her own English language teaching and translation service in Santiago, Chile.

Recognizing the need for her small business clients to have affordable and personal access to business and trade information about the United States, Aros partnered with a small international trade consulting firm in Washington, D.C., to inform her clients about business opportunities.

In 1997, Aros returned to the United States to pursue graduate degrees at Pitt. She will receive the MBA from Katz in August. She also is scheduled to complete the master's degree in global political economy at Pitt's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in August 2004. Aros earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in English and creative writing at Dickinson College in 1990.

In addition to professional and educational pursuits, Aros has volunteered with the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council, Habitat for Humanity, Beginning with Books, Catholic Charities Refugee Services, Orphanage of Hope for Girls (in Chile), and Big Brothers and Sisters.

Aros and other Marshall fellows will meet in Washington for orientation and background meetings and then travel to Brussels, Belgium, for high-level briefings on the European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and transatlantic issues, after which they will split into smaller groups to visit cities in northern, southern, and central Europe for one-on-one meetings, site visits, hands-on experiences, and formal briefings. The small groups will reunite at the end of the three weeks for final briefings and an evaluation session.

The Marshall Memorial Fellowship program was first established in 1982 with the goal of providing young European leaders with an intimate understanding of political, social, and economic institutions of the United States. The fellowship network now counts more than 1,000 leaders in politics, government, the media, business, and the nonprofit sector.

GMF is an American institution founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany in honor of post-war Marshall Plan assistance. GMF's mission is to promote the exchange of ideas and cooperation between the United States and Europe in the spirit of the Marshall Plan. GMF gives grants for the study of international and domestic policies, sponsors fellowships that support comparative research and foster debate, and promotes information sharing that strengthens broad understanding of transatlantic issues and perspectives.

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