Robert Petish

Deputy Director, Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship

Before joining Howard University, Robert C. Petish worked at the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).  As Senior Field Operations Officer, Robert provided legal, security, and operational support for the organization’s network of international offices. Before joining IREX’s Operations team, Robert served as Senior Program Officer for the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (YALI). In his role, Robert supported programming for the Public Policy track working with university and business partners to provide professional development opportunities for YALI Fellows.  Robert previously worked with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as a Senior Program Officer managing a federally funded STEM-focused fellowship supporting doctoral-level scientists contribute their talents throughout the executive branch of the U.S. Government. Before joining AAAS, Robert served as the Senior Business Processes Manager at the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Council for International Exchange of Scholars. From 2007-2011, he managed the technical and operational projects needed to run Fulbright U.S. and International Programs. Also, during his time at IIE, Robert worked as a Senior Program Officer with the KAUST Scholars Fellowship with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is a fluent French speaker and lived in Fukuoka, Japan, for three years teaching English. He holds a bachelor’s degree in French, Foreign Language Education from the University of Central Florida.