University of Washington-Seattle Campus (out-of-state)

Award Amount: $26,000 Description: Each year a select group of UW students are provided a rare opportunity to independently travel the world as Bonderman Fellows. David Bonderman, a UW alumnus, created the Bonderman Fellowship in 1995, which has funded life-changing global journeys for more than 280 students. The Bonderman Fellowship offers University of Washington graduate, professional, and graduating senior undergraduate students an opportunity to engage in independent exploration and travel abroad. Administered by the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards and the Graduate School Office of Fellowships & Awards, Bonderman Fellowships enable students to undertake independent international travel to explore, be open to the unexpected, and come to know the world in new ways. Fellows may not participate in a program or organization, engage in formal study at a foreign university, conduct research or other academic projects, or travel with an organized group. Bonderman Fellowships are intended to introduce students to cultures, peoples, and areas of the world with which they are not familiar. For more than twenty years UW alumnus David Bonderman has supported UW students via travel fellowships that ask them to explore, challenge themselves, and see the globe through a different lens. Bonderman, who earned his undergraduate degree in Russian from the University of Washington in 1963, received a Sheldon Fellowship after graduating from Harvard Law School, which allowed him to travel internationally and had a profound impact on his life. In 2017 the University of Washington Bonderman Fellowship expanded its impact with a $10 million endowment from David Bonderman.