A $1 million gift from philanthropists Lynda and Stewart Resnick will help policy leaders of tomorrow receive exceptional training today to embark on careers in public service.
“The new Lynda and Stewart Resnick Endowed Scholarship, representative of their considerable business acumen and commitment to the greater good, will benefit us all by supporting our deeply committed Ph.D. candidates as they master and then apply the rigorous research and analytic skills that are proven to advance public policy and decisionmaking,” said Susan Marquis, dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School. “We're grateful for this generous gift.”
The Resnicks, in entrepreneurial careers spanning over 50 years in many varied industries and enterprises, have sought to balance achievement in business with a dedication to giving back. Their generosity has supported advancements in the arts, K–12 and higher education, science, medicine, health, and health care at notable institutions across Central and Southern California.
“With the many challenges we face in the world today, we believe in the wisdom and importance of investing in intellectual capacity, especially as it flourishes in places like RAND, to find real-world solutions to real-world problems,” the Resnicks said.
While lives in public policy and public service can be richly rewarding on a personal and professional basis, they can be financially less so, Marquis noted, adding those considering graduate study for public policy careers often express concern about taking on added educational debt.
In recent years, support from forward-thinking donors like the Resnicks has allowed Pardee RAND to provide unprecedented financial assistance to its annual cohort of two dozen or so new Ph.D. candidates who come to Santa Monica, California, from lives of early and considerable accomplishment from around the globe. In 2013, for the first time, Pardee RAND offered full-tuition scholarships to every eligible first-year student.
Pardee RAND is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the United States and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.
