"The U.S. Department of State and IREX are pleased to announce the 71 Americans selected to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Reciprocal Exchange Component.

The Reciprocal Exchange component provides Americans with the opportunity to travel to Africa to build upon strategic partnerships and professional connections developed with young Africa leaders during their Mandela Washington Fellowship in the United States. This Reciprocal Exchange encourages U.S. experts and leaders to work with Fellows they met in the United States to tackle critical issues, such as promoting peace, stability, and economic prosperity in both the United States and Africa, while contributing to U.S. public diplomacy efforts and strengthening mutual understanding. 

Through these competitive awards, 71 U.S. leaders from 23 states and the District of Columbia will travel to 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for up to four weeks throughout 2018. The Reciprocal Exchange will support diverse projects that address a wide array of global and local community challenges in both the United States and Africa."

2018 UC Davis Awardees

• Kurt Kornbluth, Assistant Adjunct Professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, College of Engineering, UC Davis
  • Cote D’Ivoire, energy
• Nicholas Bowden, Ph.D. student, Transportation Technology and Policy, UC Davis
  • Rwanda, energy

Read the full article at the IREX website.