Julia Chang Bloch Fellowship

The Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) launches the Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch Graduate Fellowship, designed to nurture emerging leaders specializing in the study of Asia, with a focus on US-China relations. The fellowship offers $2,000/each to two fellows, to be used in support of field research, dissertation completion, graduate tuition, or travel to participate in a conference or symposium related to East Asian and China Studies.

Ambassador Bloch, the first Asian American to hold ambassadorial rank in US history, brings to the GW community deep knowledge and broad experience from her distinguished six-decade career in the US government and international affairs. She created the fellowship in 2023 to celebrate two important anniversaries—the 35th anniversary of the F.Y. Chang Foundation, founded in honor of her father’s memory, and the 25th anniversary of the US-China Education Trust (USCET), the Foundation’s largest program.   

USCET has been affiliated with GW’s Elliott School since 2021. ESIA hosts USCET on campus, and the partnership expands opportunities for educational and cultural exchanges for GW students. It also connects GW, particularly ESIA, with USCET’s extensive network, which includes more than 70 Chinese universities such as Peking University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, and Sichuan University.

Ambassador Bloch explained, “I founded USCET to support US-China relations, the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world. I wanted to invest in building mutual understanding between the two global powers because I understood that unless the US and China got along, the world would know no peace.”

At a time of heightened competition and tensions, the US faces a critical shortage of China expertise, with fewer American students choosing to focus their study on China. It is critical to   train future leaders with strong expertise in East Asia, particularly China. Ambassador Bloch hopes this fellowship will serve as a catalyst to encourage more GW students to consider a career working on US-China relations, and thus help to move the US-China relationship to firmer ground, especially in the long term.