JAN DILENSCHNEIDER

First-Ever Award Established to Rescue
Scholars in the Arts from Oppression

 

The first-ever award to rescue scholars in the arts from parts of the world where they are oppressed and denied freedom of expression was launched February 25, 2014, by the Institute of International Education (IIE), one of the largest international exchange organizations in the world.

 

Established with gifts from IIE Trustees Robert L. Dilenschneider and Mark A. Angelson, the Janet Hennessey Dilenschneider Scholar Rescue Award in the Arts, announced in February 2014, will provide life-saving fellowships to 10 threatened scholars in fields such as painting, dance, music, architecture, and the performing arts.

 

Candidates apply through IIE's Scholar Rescue Fund, which provides fellowships of up to $25,000. Each selected scholar is then placed at a host university, which matches the fellowship and provides a safe place for the scholar to continue to advance his or her work.

 

The Janet Hennessey Dilenschneider Scholar Rescue Award in the Arts becomes part of IIE's Scholar Rescue Fund, which over more than a decade had rescued 525 scholars from more than 50 countries.

 

“The Janet Hennessey Dilenschneider Scholar Rescue Award in the Arts will be the first major effort to focus specifically on saving threatened scholars in the arts,” said Mark A. Angelson, Chair of IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund. “IIE is extremely grateful to the Dilenschneider family for establishing this unique program that will help assure that scholars who represent these essential creative endeavors can continue their work in freedom and safety,”

 

“Scholars of the arts are an extremely important part of the intellectual fabric of open societies and, sadly, are too often neglected in the face of emergencies or persecution from tyrannical regimes,” said Dr. Allan E. Goodman, IIE’s President and CEO. “We lose their creative work, which includes teaching the next generation of artists. This new program will protect free expression and creativity, so essential to any country’s growth and development, and to fostering peace and prosperity.”

 

“The world is in turmoil and we are in danger of losing the creativity contributed by artists, writers, musicians, if we don’t rescue them from oppression. The record of our time should be from the arts and not the computer chip,” said Janet Hennessey Dilenschneider.

 

 

The IIE-Scholar Rescue Fund provides fellowships and additional vital support for scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries.
Scholars of the arts interested in applying to IIE-SRF can find eligibility information here.

 

View full press release here (PDF), with more information on IIE, the Scholar Rescue Fund, and Jan Dilenschneider.

 

For more info, contact: Sharon Witherell, IIE Public Affairs

switherell@iie.org, 212-984-5380