Harvard South Africa Fellowship Program

Former Harvard University President Derek Bok established the Harvard South Africa Fellowship Program (HSAFP) in 1979 to address the needs of South Africans who were denied access to advanced education by the apartheid system. This program was established, and is still intended, for mid-career professionals educationally disadvantaged by past laws and resource allocations in South Africa. Individuals who have shown considerable skill in their chosen fields stand to benefit from advanced training, and, it is hoped, can use that advanced training to further South African political, social, and economic progress.

Fellowships are for up to one year of study in one of Harvard’s Professional Schools or Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, with tuition provided by the School. General administrative funds for program management, stipends, and airfare for the fellows are provided by the Office of the President and administered by the Center for African Studies. To date, over 220 fellowships have been awarded to men and women with
careers spanning education, law, public health, the arts and humanities, and a host of other professions and disciplines. Upon their return to South Africa, many of the HSAFP fellows have gone on to play prominent roles in their nation and local communities while remaining engaged with the Harvard community in Cambridge, Africa, and beyond.