John A. Hager Memorial Fellowship

The Georgetown University Italian Research Institute, in collaboration with the Italia Innovation Program, invites all College students to apply to the John A. Hager Memorial Fellowship for the one-month long Italia Innovation Summer Program in Italy.

Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Giulio Gianturco, a board member of the Georgetown University Italian Research Institute, for the second year, we are offering 2 John A. Hager Memorial Fellowships in the amount of $5,500 each to College students to enroll in the Italia Innovation Summer Program in Italy.

The cost for the four-week program this year is 5,000 euros which includes lodgings, breakfast, lunch Monday-Friday, and tuition. The roundtrip flight is excluded. However, we are pleased to announce that the Italia Innovation Program is offering a 1,000 euros reduction to each of the two John A. Hager Memorial Fellowship recipients. The cost is 4,000 euros.

The one-month long program provides a full-immersion learning experience in Italy focusing on unique entrepreneurial challenges.  Last summer two of our students were awarded the Fellowship and one of them, Caroline De Santis C’16, who enrolled in the program, has been offered a position as Communication & External Relations Manager with the Italia Innovation Program.  The application deadline is March 20, 2017. 

Program Information

Program Date: June 19 – July 17, 2017

Make your summer unforgettable with a fully-immersive learning experience in Italy: a unique entrepreneurial journey where Italian companies challenge teams of international talented students to lead the innovation of their business and productive models.

Participants will receive the mentorship of the following unique team of experts and professors: Jake Knapp (Google Ventures), Vincent Stanley (Patagonia), Bill Burnett (Stanford d.school), John Bruce (Parsons), David Schonthal (Kellogg&IDEO), Stewart Thornhill (Michigan Ross), Sam Potolicchio (Georgetown), Robert Jackson (Columbia) and others, as well as Italian entrepreneurs and forward-thinking business leaders.

Company visits, industry insights, hands-on seminars, inspirational talks and up-to-date tools like Design Thinking, Corporate Law and Economics, Entrepreneurship and Product Development Labs foster the industry understanding and boost the project works. 

The partner companies are leading brands in the Made in Italy business sectors (Fashion, Design, Food and Wine, Arts, High-end Manufacturing and Healthcare). Past challengers included Ermenegildo Zegna, United Colors of Benetton, Salvatore Ferragamo, Moncler, Illy Coffee, Santa Margherita Wine Group, Molteni & C, Palazzo Grassi, Punta della Dogana, and more.