Jennifer Almodovar Jimenez ’18 named 2020 Schwarzman Scholar

Photo/Mike Lovett

Jennifer Almodovar Jimenez at a Myra Kraft TYP event at Gillette Stadium in 2017.

Jennifer Almodovar Jimenez ’18 has been named a member of the newest class of Schwarzman Scholars, a prestigious program that provides graduate fellowships based in Beijing, China.

The Schwarzman Scholarship program was inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship and is designed to prepare future global leaders to meet the geopolitical challenges of the 21st century. A total of 147 Schwarzman Scholars were selected from over 2,800 applicants around the world for the class of 2020, which will enroll at Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in Beijing in August 2019.

Scholars in the program pursue a master’s degree in global affairs. Along with a core curriculum, scholars decide on an individually designed concentration, drawing from courses in public policy, international studies, and economics and business.

Jimenez, who was admitted to Brandeis through the Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program and went on to double-major in politics and international and global studies, is looking forward to the opportunity to study immigration policy and learn more about how China will impact the intersection of immigration and labor in the United States and Latin America.

“It is a fascinating time to get an exclusive look into China’s role in the world,” Jimenez said. “I am looking forward to becoming a more global individual in every sense. Crossing out ‘learn Mandarin’ off my life bucket list doesn’t sound bad, either.”

She first learned about the program through the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and worked closely with the Academic Fellowships team in the Office of Academic Services at Brandeis during the application process.

“They were incredibly helpful in getting me to think about my essays and preparing me for my interview,” Jimenez said.

Each year, Academic Fellowships at Brandeis helps about 200 Brandeis students and recent alumni pursue fellowship opportunities for research and other academic endeavors both on and off-campus by guiding them through all phases of the application process. Jimenez is the second Brandeis student to be named a Schwarzman Scholar. The Academic Fellowships team also helped connect her with David Benger ’14, who was a scholar in 2016, the program’s inaugural year.

“He went above simply answering questions about the application process and has become one of my mentors,” Jimenez said.