Rao ‘04 Lands Coveted Eisenhower Fellowship

G. Nagesh Rao ’04 is ready for some “pretty awesome endeavors” as one of 10 recently announced USA Eisenhower Fellows.

Rao, who earned his M.S. in Legal Studies at Albany Law, will give his passport a workout during a four- to five-week agenda. In a statement, the EF program said its fellows “will meet with experts in their respective fields, with the goal of exchanging ideas and information” in countries such as Spain, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Russia, Brazil, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Northern Ireland and Japan.

“We are proud to offer this once-in-a-lifetime experience to this group of talented men and women,” Ret. Gen. Colin Powell, Eisenhower Fellowships chairman, said in a statement. “The fellowship is an opportunity for them to deepen their engagement with a global network of leaders and broaden their ability to positively impact society through their work.”

Rao serves as chief technologist and entrepreneur-in-residence at the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C. On LinkedIn, Rao wrote that he would focus on communication, innovation and technological collaboration during his individualized fellowship.

“Admittedly, it was pretty darn cool to read General Powell's quote from the press release, but also remarkable to realize the wonderful opportunity before me,” he wrote. “The Eisenhower Fellowship offers an amazing network of global change agents that I get to collaborate with, on some pretty awesome endeavors.”

Rao said he’d be traveling to Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and posting along the way on LinkedIn and Twitter (@GNageshRao).