Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues

Learn more about the 2016-2017 inaugural cohort for the Georgetown University Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues Student Fellows Program.

Richard CHANG

Richard Chang is a senior at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. The year before attending college, he worked at an NGO in Yunnan, serving homeless children and victims of human trafficking. At Princeton, Richard was an elected U-Councilor in the Undergraduate Student Government and a research assistant at the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program. He interned at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center (CTC) for Global Policy and in the political section at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing in summer 2015. Richard plans to accept a commission as a U.S. Army officer and attend law school after graduation. He hopes to one day run for public office and play a key role in formulating U.S. foreign policy towards Asia.

Zhihang DU (杜知航) 

Originally from Ziyang, Sichuan, Zhihang Du is a senior of international journalism major at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). She previously interned at Caixin, a leading economic and financial news institution in China. In spring 2016, Zhihang was a visiting student at Columbia University, where she took courses on global economy, journalism, and social psychology. She has been a member of BFSU’s English debate team and won the top prize in the public speaking section at the 3rd China British Parliamentary Debate. She is interested in the intersection of economy and society and its impact on people's lives. She plans to further her studies as a graduate student in areas of global economy and international affairs.

Amy DUAN (段铭燕) 

Amy Duan is from Yunnan Province, southwestern China. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in translation studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). From 2010 to 2014, she attended Beijing International Studies University, majoring in English and cross-cultural communication. She is interested in the cultural approach in translation studies, which incorporates a broad sociocultural context including gender, race, colonialism, and post-colonialism. Amy is also interested in international relations and cross-cultural communications, with a specific focus on helping the underprivileged and the promotion of women’s leadership. Most recently she interned at Education Forum for Asia and AmCham China in Beijing. Combining her education and passion, her career goal is to work for the UN. 

Clay GARNER (高山) 

Clay Garner is a senior at Stanford University majoring in East Asian Studies with a focus on media and politics. In 2014, Clay was awarded a Stanford Taiwan Democracy Project fellowship to research the Taiwanese media environment and shadow journalists at FTV News in Taipei. Clay has also been involved with the Forum for American-Chinese Exchange at Stanford. Clay’s interests include mobile-first technology proliferation in developing countries, China-Hollywood relations, and the potential for U.S.-China cooperation on a range of digital media challenges worldwide. As a Mandarin pop singer/songwriter and TV personality, Clay has performed on Chinese networks such as CCTV and Formosa Television and has also appeared as an assistant host on the Beijing TV program Beijingke.

Vicky GU (顾玮琪) 

Vicky Gu is a senior at Georgetown University studying finance and international business. As a U.S.-born Chinese-American with entrepreneurial immigrant parents, she believes in the power of design thinking to bridge gaps and activate deep engagement across cultures. Her experiences with a design thinking practicum and a New Nordic culinary culture course in Copenhagen inspired her in the innovation spheres across industries and nations. These experiences provided a stark yet fascinating contrast to her time working at Bank of Beijing in China. She plans to pursue intentional design through the avenues of business and trade—in areas including food sustainability, social development, global health and humanitarian issues, and more. Vicky is excited to explore connections between design thinking and challenges in U.S.-China relations.

Caleb HUFFMAN 

Caleb Huffman is a double major in political science and communication at the University of Washington (UW). Passionate about learning, he began college at 16 years old. Caleb is currently analyzing Donald Trump’s stump speeches in UW’s Communication Honors Program and researching the correlation between economics and immigration in the Political Science Honors Program. He is also a fellow with the Center for American Politics and Public Policy at the university. Caleb served on the Washington State Legislative Youth Advisory Council and was a Gilman Scholar. As a UW Husky Presidential Ambassador to Tsinghua University, he works to build cross-cultural understanding and develop transnational leadership skills. Caleb will pursue a J.D. in international law as a foundation for a diplomatic career.

Yuwen LONG (龙钰文) 

Yuwen Long is a junior at Shandong University in China with double majors in law and English. During summer 2015, she volunteered at a primary school in the countryside of Zunyi, Guizhou province to teach English. In spring 2016, she was an exchange student at the University of Valencia in Spain and studied European law. During summer 2016, Yuwen interned at Shaanxi Zhizheng law firm and worked as a lawyer assistant in the field of private equity law. Her academic interests include economic law and international human rights law. She is also interested in American literature, sociolinguistics, and the role of English as a global language. Yuwen is fluent in English, Spanish, and has some knowledge of French. 

David LYSENKO 

David Lysenko is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University majoring in international political economy, where he also serves as a Carroll Fellow. A Ukrainian-American, David speaks Russian. He works with the Russian news agency Interfax to interview American experts and gather information on Russo-American relations for published news articles. David hopes to use his bilingualism to become a diplomat after graduation. In his spare time, David programmed a fantasy sports algorithm to optimize projected winnings and co-founded a company called Number Kings to sell results to customers. David is originally from New Jersey.

Yuqian ZHANG (张昱乾) 

Yuqian Zhang is a master’s degree student of the Tsinghua-Johns Hopkins SAIS Dual Degree Program. As an undergraduate at the China Foreign Affairs University, Yuqian participated in several youth dialogues, including the China-Japan-Korea Youth Forum and a number of Model UN conferences. Yuqian has extensive interest in global health and humanitarian issues and is planning to pursue a Ph.D. in health policy, with a focus on the role of private sector and public-private partnership in China-U.S. health cooperation. He has completed internships at Global Health Strategies and a Mayo Clinic subsidiary in China, as well as the UNHCR Beijing Office. Yuqian’s academic interests also include free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region.