Whartonite lands fellowship

Wharton graduate student Dylan Pereira is one of 30 recipients of the 2001 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. The award, established in 1997, provides first or second-generation immigrants with 50 percent of their tuition for up to two years of graduate education on any topic at any university in the United States. Fellowship program officer Carmel Geraghty said that award is intended to promote the values needed to succeed on an international level. "We're looking for leadership and accomplishment and commitment to the United States and the Bill of Rights," Geraghty said. "[Pereira] is quite an exceptional person and quite an impressive person when you meet him." Pereira, who moved to the United States from India at the age of 19, is currently working for a master's degree in international finance in a program run between the Wharton School and the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. The award will help finance the completion of his degree. "I think the notion of technology being applied to globalization has always interested me," Pereira said. "I've always been attracted to international business." Pereira said he was pleasantly surprised to hear that he had been selected for the award. "I think it's a tremendous honor," he said. "It's a fantastic privilege to be grouped with these people. It's tremendous to see the quality of the pool they attract." Pereira was one of 900 applicants for the fellowship. There are currently 72 past recipients studying at 29 different universities across the country. Warren Ilchman, director of the program, said Pereira is a perfect candidate for the award. "Dylan is a fine example of the kind of creative and accomplished individual that the program seeks to honor and support," Ilchman said. "Dylan has melded... his talents in foreign languages and business, and his commitment to development into a very promising career." Pereira graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1993. Between college and graduate school, he spent six years working as an international consultant for Cambridge Technology Partners. Pereira spent time in New York, San Francisco, London and Brazil during his time at the firm. In 1998, he became a managing partner of the firm's Brazilian operations. "I wanted to work," Pereira said. "Coming back to school, I felt that I needed to fill some gaps in my education." Paul and Daisy Soros, who immigrated to the United States themselves, established the award to encourage international students to take advantage of the resources that the U.S. has to offer. "The intention of the fellowship is that people would see America as their home," Geraghty said. "This fellowship is a way of saying thank you for [the success of the Soros family] in America."