2012 IIE Europe Award for Excellence
Goes to Anthony C. Gooch, Benefactor of the Klein Family Scholarships
Honoring Linda B. Klein
NOVEMBER 19, 2012
BUDAPEST – The Institute of International Education (IIE) European Office is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2012 IIE Europe Award for Excellence. This year the award will be presented to Anthony C. Gooch on December 7th in recognition of his establishment and continued support of the Klein Family Scholarships, which provide full financial support to talented Hungarian students to study at Sewanee: The University of the South.
Mr. Gooch, a retired partner with over forty years of experience at the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, based in New York, has written and co-authored numerous books and articles on documentation for financial derivative products and loan documentation.
Mr. Gooch also serves on several boards and councils, including the Board of Directors of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and its Executive Committee, the Rockefeller University Council, and the Investment Management Committee of the Board of Regents of Sewanee: The University of the South. He formerly served as General Counsel, as a Trustee, and then as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), an organization that works to better the conditions of the rural poor and their communities in Africa and Asia.
After graduating summa cum laude from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, he received a law degree (LL.B.) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from New York University, followed in 2005 by a master’s degree in international affairs (M.I.A.) from Columbia University. Mr. Gooch studied at the College of Europe in Belgium in 1959-60 on a Fulbright Scholarship.
The Klein Family Scholarships were conceived of in 2003 by Mr. Gooch’s late wife, Linda B. Klein, who was of Hungarian descent on her father’s side. The scholarships are permanently endowed by gifts to the University of the South made by Ms. Klein herself and by Mr. Gooch and others to honor her memory. The University generously provides partial matching of ongoing gifts and the endowment income, which makes the program possible.
One four-year full scholarship is offered each year to a high school student from Hungary or from another Central or Eastern European country, to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree at Sewanee: The University of the South, a national liberal arts university with an outstanding undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences, located in the state of Tennessee in the United States. The Institute of International Education’s European Office conducts the program outreach and manages the prescreening process for the Klein Family Scholarships.
Klein Family Scholarships have been awarded each year from 2007-2012 to a Hungarian student – six graduates of some of the top high schools in five different cities in Hungary. Two recipients have completed their studies, and four students are currently enrolled at Sewanee: The University of the South.
“Being an international student at Sewanee has not only given me an opportunity to learn about a different environment, but also completely changed my outlook on my own culture,” said Klein scholar Zita Monori, who is currently a junior. “This enhanced awareness in my conception of the world will always help me to think more critically about my surroundings, the people with whom I come in contact, and how we relate to each other,” she added.
“One of the things I value most about my experience in Sewanee is the people I had the chance to meet. I made friends from all over the world: Costa Rica, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, France, Japan, Spain, Rwanda, Nepal, China, Honduras, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Zambia, Russia, Pakistan, and Germany. In such a setting, a regular dinner table conversation easily supplies anyone with lots to learn about other cultures,” commented Tamás Kubik, a Klein scholar in his senior year.
By helping to establish and support the Klein Family Scholarships, Mr. Gooch has furthered IIE’s mission of fostering mutual understanding through the international exchange of students, and contributed to promoting closer educational relations between the United States and Europe.
About the Institute of International Education
The Institute of International Education (IIE), a private not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. IIE designs and implements over 250 programs of study and training for students, educators, young professionals and trainees from all sectors with funding from government and private sources. IIE has a network of 12 international offices worldwide and more than 1,000 college and university members.
About the IIE European Office
IIE’s European office is located in Budapest, Hungary. Founded in 1990, this office represents IIE’s program operations in Europe. Covering over 30 countries in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, the office focuses on supporting and strengthening internationalization of universities, developing and managing scholarship and study abroad programs, and collaborating with corporate partners to design and implement programs and services that meet their specific corporate needs and philanthropic objectives.
About the IIE Europe Award for Excellence
The IIE Europe Award for Excellence is an award initiative that was launched by the IIE European Office in 2011 to recognize outstanding achievement in international education. The criteria for recipients include meaningful contributions to IIE’s mission of Opening Minds to the World®, relevance to European higher education, and high impact on the European education community.
