Undergraduates Noah Tan and Adrian Feinberg have been awarded the 2025 James C. Gaither Junior Fellowship by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Each year, colleges and universities across the country put forward more than 200 nominees to the national fellowship program, and approximately 15 one-year fellowships are awarded. Gaither fellows provide research assistance to Carnegie senior scholars and have opportunities to work on a range of projects, such as writing op-eds, reports, and books; contributing to congressional testimony; and organizing briefings for scholars, activists, journalists, and government officials.

Tan, a senior majoring in international relations with a minor in music composition, is pursuing a coterminal master’s degree in public policy. He was inspired to apply for the fellowship after hearing Herb Lin, senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, speak on the final day of his Technology and National Security class.

In his talk, Lin highlighted the critical role young people play in international security and encouraged students to dedicate a part of their lives to serving the nation in that capacity.

“That can take many forms, such as soldier, civil servant, or diplomat,” said Tan, who is pursuing honors in international security through CISAC. “I think my way to contribute before I head off to law school is by working as a scholar and thinking about our world’s most unsolvable, intractable issues. Working as a Junior Fellow at Carnegie will give me insight into the various facets of international relations, as well as the opportunity to be mentored by leading scholars at the organization.”

After the fellowship, Tan plans to attend Harvard Law School through its Junior Deferral Program and hopes to pursue a career as an international lawyer.

Feinberg, an international relations major pursuing honors in democracy, development, and the rule of law, with minors in history and film & media, became interested in the fellowship after visiting the Carnegie Endowment during a trip to Washington, D.C., last September. During the visit, he serendipitously spoke at length with his future boss Tom Carothers, director of Carnegie's Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.

“I am very excited to be working with leading scholars of democratic recessions in such a critical time for our country and the world at large,” he said. “Though I didn't know it when I applied, this work is more urgent than ever, and I’m looking forward to contributing to research that reaches audiences beyond the academy – whether that’s journalists, readers of Emissary, or members of Congress.”

Following the fellowship, Feinberg intends to apply for JD-PhD programs in history.