Two Harvard Law School students, Tarun Chhabra ’11 and Previn Warren ’11, were among just 31 individuals selected to receive Paul and Daisy Soros New American Fellowships this year. Each will receive a half-tuition grant for two years of study at Harvard Law School and an additional $20,000 stipend for related expenses.
Chhabra is currently pursuing a J.D. from HLS and a doctorate from Oxford University. He hopes to work in the areas of foreign policy and national security policy for the U.S. government after graduation.
Chhabra holds a B.A. in international relations and Russian language and literature. He was a Fulbright Scholar to Russia, where he studied Russian perspectives on US foreign policy at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. Chhabra also received a Marshall Scholarship to study at Merton College, Oxford, where he received a master’s degree in international relations and won a Clarendon Award, which is given to overseas students for studies at Oxford.
Chhabra has previously worked on the staff of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s high-level Panel for U.N. Reform and in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. Prior to his work with the UN, he was a consultant-advisor to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament initiatives.
Warren hopes to pursue a career in legal scholarship. A graduate of Harvard College, he was the co-founder of a student advocacy group championing progressive causes. Warren co-edited a book about youth civic engagement after 9/11. During his senior year, he received the prestigious Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize for his outstanding senior thesis.
After graduating from college, Warren worked with indigent criminal defendants at the Federal Defenders office, and worked an adviser on economic development and poverty policy with the New York City Mayor’s Office. For five years, he played bass guitar in the Brooklyn-based rock trio The States.
The Soros Fellowships were established to help immigrants to continue to make a positive impact on the nation. The selection is based upon rigorous criteria that include academic performance and leadership skills.