Grad wins Luce scholarship

In September, Penn graduate Radhika Shroff will depart for Asia, along with 17 others from around the nation.

This Asian voyage is being made possible by the Luce Scholars program. Established in 1974 by the Henry Luce Foundation, the program provides stipends and internships for young Americans to live and work in Asia for a 10-month period.

The purpose of the program is to increase awareness of issues in Asia among future leaders in American society.

According to Art Casciato, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, the scholarship committee looks for "an obvious record of high academic achievement, outstanding leadership ability and a clearly defined career interest with evidence of potential for professional achievement" in its potential candidates.

And Shroff certainly fits the bill. The 1995 graduate left Penn with a dual degree in economics and psychology. After spending time working for the Latin American branch of an investment bank, Shroff returned to Penn and received an MBA/MA in International Studies from the Lauder Institute of Management.

Shroff is currently the internet business manager at Wells Fargo in San Francisco.

Each year, Penn nominates two applicants for the Luce scholarship, but because one Penn applicant -- 1997 Wharton graduate Jonathan Ang -- won last year, Penn was able to submit three nominations this year.

The other two nominees this year were current College seniors Miriam Ackerman and Yael Krigman.

"Any of them might have won, but I would have been very surprised if [Shroff] didn't," Casciato said. "Her achievements in management and her entrepreneurial leadership ability is a combination difficult to beat."

After spending time in Latin America and studying its emerging market, Shroff decided that she wanted to learn about the emerging markets of other countries, specifically those in Asia.

"I've always wanted to go to Asia, and I was interested in economic development," she said. "My main goal is to develop the same understanding of Asia that I have of Latin America and sort of leverage my knowledge of emerging markets worldwide to eventually lead U.S. markets into expansion."

Through her work in Latin America, Shroff demonstrated that she not only had business-related interests in these countries, but a desire to learn about the culture and history of each region as well. In displaying her ability to learn a new language and learn about a new culture, she captured the attention of the Luce scholarship committee.

"It's really impossible for me to imagine a better representative for the U.S. in Asia, someone more ready to make the most of the opportunity to learn and grow that the Luce [scholarship] affords," Casciato said.

Each scholarship winner is given an internship opportunity based on some demonstrated professional experience. Shroff said she hopes her Penn education and work experience will earn her an internship that is business-related.

"I'd like to do something with financial services in Asia," she said.

Shroff said she hopes to walk away from her stay in Asia with a true understanding of the people and culture of the region in which she is placed -- which has yet to be determined -- as well as an ability to communicate using new language skills and "cultural nuances that you would never pick up if you didn't actually work there."

And Casciato has complete faith in her ability to do so.

"Radhika is an intelligent, motivated and poised businesswoman, a true leader with vision and values, and most of all, a doer and self-starter," he said.

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