PhD profiles and interviews

One day last week I was toiling away in my office when I was told that Courtney was asking to see me.  I assumed it was a current student, so I was surprised (and delighted) to find, instead, Courtney Fung, F12, a PhD graduate who is now a professor at the University of Hong Kong, and was spending a day on campus.  Courtney and I go way back to her application days.  Then she spent a year on the Admissions Committee.  One way or another, I feel like we were in regular contact throughout her years at Fletcher.  The last time she visited, she left an umbrella in my office, and I’ve kept it for her (while, admittedly, also using it on occasion if I forgot to bring one).  It always makes me think of Courtney, and though I encouraged her to take it with her last week, she didn’t.  I’ll offer it to her again the next time she visits.  Until then it serves as a nice reminder.

The students in the PhD program are very special members of the community.  Not only do they bring academic strength and the tenacity needed to complete a dissertation, they also have significant professional experience.  The communications office has been interviewing students periodically and these are the profiles that have been written so far.

Phoebe Donnelly
Sarah Detzner
Ana de Alba
Deborshi Barat
Zoltan Feher
Polina Beliakova

Self-profiles of more students are available on our website.

Also last week, I received a link to a podcast that a recent PhD graduate had recorded as a guest.  On the podcast, Michael Sullivan, who just defended his dissertation in September, discusses leadership, resiliency, and the charity event he organized, “Shootout for Soldiers.”  He talks about his experience at Fletcher at about the 40-minute mark of the interview.  It’s a good listen in general, but particularly for anyone curious about the U.S. military officers who step away from the day-to-day of their careers to pursue a degree at Fletcher.