March 03, 2006  The Watson Institute announces the establishment of a new undergraduate fellowship named for the late Marla Ruzicka, a human rights activist who died in April 2005 during a suicide bombing in Baghdad, Iraq. This award has been made possible through the generosity of Lucinda B. Watson, a member of the Watson Institute Board of Overseers and the daughter of the late Thomas J. Watson, Jr. ’37, the namesake of the Institute.

Lucinda Watson had met Ruzicka in New York in the spring of 2004, and after an evening of conversation was deeply inspired by her passion and commitment to international public service. The Marla Ruzicka International Public Service Fellowship will be awarded annually to support one Brown undergraduate whose summer plans reflect the characteristics of compassion, determination, and selflessness in the pursuit of international human rights, which Ruzicka exemplified. It offers support of up to $3,000 to the fellow.

Ruzicka, who was 28 years old when she died, was the founder of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC). She traveled to Afghanistan shortly after the fall of the Taliban in 2002 to record the effects of conflict on civilian communities, and she lobbied diligently to seek compensation for families whose homes had been destroyed in the conflict. From Afghanistan, Marla went to Iraq, where she, along with a team of over 160 volunteers, conducted door-to-door interviews to gain first-hand knowledge of Iraqi civilian casualties. Subsequently, Ruzicka took her first CIVIC report to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who sponsored legislation to provide U.S. aid to innocent Iraqis harmed in military operations. Her worked continued through April 2005 when she was tragically killed.

Upon hearing of Ruzicka’s death and seeing how quickly the media seemed to forget her story, Watson, the author of How They Achieved Success: Stories of Personal Achievement and Business Success, wanted to keep the spirit of Ruzicka’s life and work alive through others and to make sure that she was remembered and respected. Knowing this was something that her father would have supported, Lucinda Watson decided to establish this fellowship through the Institute, which her father, the former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, helped to found. This endowed gift will provide another resource for a new generation to continue work on human rights, postconflict rehabilitation, and international public service. As Watson said in making her gift, “I think it is so important for Marla’s devotion to victims of war to be publicized so that others are inspired to act in the same way. We don't have enough people in our world who actually believe they can make a difference.”

For application details and requirements, please see this posting for the Marla Ruzicka International Public Service Fellowship.