President John F. Kennedy addresses students of West Berlin's Free University on June 26, 1963 during his visit to Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo)
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship was established in 1967 as an endowment with funds from the German Federal Government and private donations from German industry as a lasting legacy to the memory of the slain U.S. president. Each year up to three Kennedy Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis to post-doctoral scholars from Germany. In 2016, the Fellowship was expanded to create the German Kennedy Memorial Fellowship which awards one additional fellowship to a scholar from an EU member state other than Germany.
Tom Chevalier (Inaugural German Kennedy Fellow) and Kennedy Fellows Başak Bilecen, Regine Paul and Lukas Haffert (left to right)
Since the inception of the program, over 100 Kennedy Fellows from Germany have spent an academic year at Harvard. During the past 50 years the program has nurtured the development of some of the leading political scientists, historians and sociologists in Germany and Europe. Kennedy Fellowship alumni have played significant roles in German intellectual and public life and transatlantic relations.
"I made a big leap in my research. It was simply a luxury to indulge in doing research without the hectic pace of everyday teaching."
Anna Holzscheiter, John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow (2014-2015)
"I came to CES because I have learned that in an academic life nothing is more fruitful to your own research project than engaging with the topics, perspectives and problems other researchers face in their work. CES is one of the greatest places for intelle"
Sascha Münnich, John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow (2014-2015)
Sascha Münnich, John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow (2014-2015)
To learn more about the fellowships: