U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Meets with Participants of the U.S.-Pakistan Global Leadership STEM Program
On July 27, 2015, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with 12 students from the Peshawar Army Public School, Pakistan. The students are in the U.S. to participate in the U.S.-Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program – a program which was developed and is being implemented by Meridian International Center, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and in partnership with SUNY Polytechnic’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE). During their visit with Secretary Kerry, the students were joined by Meridian’s President Ambassador Stuart Holliday, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman, and Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States Jalil Abbas Jilani.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry greets students from Pakistan's Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 2015. The students are participating in a State Department International Visitor Leadership Program. Photo credit: U.S. Department of State
About the U.S.-Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program
Meridian has custom-tailored the U.S.-Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program’s curriculum to blend the study of global leadership with an immersive Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education immersion component.
Two Pakistani high school teachers and a military liaison are accompanying the students, as they attend a five-day Nanodiscovery Institute facilitated by CNSE professors and faculty in Albany, New York. They will create business plans as part of a Nanoeconomics course designed by CNSE staff members, and they will participate in nanotechnology career briefings.
While in Washington, D.C., the students will engage in a global leadership skills training program and attend a special luncheon meeting hosted by Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States Jalil Abbas Jilani. In New York, the boys will meet with Brigadier General John Thomson, Commandant of West Point, with a view to learning about the principles and importance of military leadership.
To further encourage cross-cultural understanding, the visiting students from the Peshawar Army Public School are joined by four American high school students with similar academic interests. In today’s globalized world, the relationships these boys form will create stronger diplomatic ties between our two countries.
Follow the program’s progress on twitter with #USPakSTEM. Please direct questions about the program to Maegen Smith at mcsmith@meridian.org or 202-939-5539