Penn IUR Undergraduate Urban Fellow Named Schwarzman Scholar

Penn IUR Undergraduate Urban Fellow Daniel Ruiz De La Concha won a prestigious Schwarzman scholarship, which fully funds a one-year master's degree in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Ruiz De La Concha, from Puebla, Mexico, is a member of the 2022 cohort of the Penn IUR Fellows in Urban Leadership program, which engages a small group of selected students with high-level local, regional, and national leaders drawn from government, business, and civil society to discuss decision-making in urban places. A senior majoring in International Relations and in Urban Studies and minoring in Latin American and Latino studies in the School of Arts & Sciences, Ruiz De La Concha also interns for the Organization of American States, which promotes diplomacy, security, prosperity, and human rights in the Americas.

He is pursuing knowledge of urban planning and international diplomacy in hopes of one day serving as an elected official in Mexico or as a member of its foreign service. The opportunity to deepen his understanding of urban decision-making by talking directly with city leaders is what led him to join the Penn IUR Fellows in Urban Leadership program. “The idea of putting students together with leaders—I thought was incredible,” he said, noting that his cohort, less than halfway through the year, had already met with a former mayor of Philadelphia, the chairman of Philadelphia’s Center City District, and the director of Philadelphia’s Department of Planning and Development, among others.

The Schwarzman Scholars program is designed to build a global community of leaders who will deepen understanding between China and the rest of the world. Ruiz De La Concha applied to the program in order to develop the skills to address existing global governance issues, better understand the relationship between China and Mexico, as well as to learn lessons that Mexico can take from China. Pointing out that both countries face similar challenges—such as human rights issues, rapid urban development, and the necessity of adapting in a world of rapid technological change—he said: “Living and studying in a tech hub will allow me to be a better public servant in the future.”

From an initial pool of nearly 3,000 applicants, the Schwarzman Scholars committee selected 151 Schwarzman scholars from 33 countries and 106 universities. The 2023 cohort will commence study in August 2022.