Taras Shevchenko, the head of Ukrainian Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law think tank, has been selected as one of 16 Yale World Fellows under the annual U.S. program at Yale University.
Shevchenko, 40, who also co-chairs the Board of Reanimation Package of Reforms, becomes the fourth Yale World Fellow from Ukraine since the program was launched in 2002.
“For me this program is an opportunity to get new knowledge, to expand my horizons, to get inspired with the new ideas,” Shevchenko says.
In his words, he wanted to join the program because it was among the best ones in the world. Shevchenko also told the Kyiv Post via Facebook that he is looking forward to the lectures at the Yale Law School. He is currently at the University of Oxford, England, were he serves as a juror in competitions among law students.
“We at the Reanimation Package of Reforms has been working on the changes for our country for the last three years. Many of things we could not achieve,” he said. “I hope that my new experience will be useful for reforming the country.”
The Reanimation Package of Reforms, co-founded by Shevchenko, is a coalition of reform-oriented nongovernmental organizations and reform-minded experts.
The World Fellows program each year invites a group of mid-career professionals from different fields and countries for an intensive four-month period of academic enrichment and leadership training.
Shevchenko has been involved with drafting numerous legislative acts, including the legislation on access to public information. He has launched successful civic initiatives in different areas including good governance, transparency, media self-regulation, anti-tobacco, and road safety.
He was elected as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Public Service Broadcasting Company in 2015.
Shevchenko holds two master’s degrees in law and in economics from the Kyiv National University.
Another Ukrainians who have become the Yale World Fellows were:
- Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the front man of Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy;
- Ihor Shevchenko, Ukraine’s former minister of ecology and natural resources; and
- Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko, former member of parliament and journalist.
According to Yale President Peter Salovey, World Fellows, of whom there are now more than 300, “have improved people’s lives, and their contributions have far reaching influence on society.”
“They enrich our learning environment by sharing their expertise and experiences with our students and faculty. They have the opportunity to grow academically and personally as they interact with our community,” he also was quoted as saying by the program’s website.
The mission of World Fellows is to cultivate and empower a network of globally engaged leaders committed to making the world a better place, the program’s website says.
