Andrássy Fellowship Alumnus Zsombor Zeöld Tapped as Program Director
Zsombor will head up the newly-created Budapest Fellowship Program to be launched this September in Budapest in cooperation with Mathias Corvinus Collegium.
Zsombor Zeöld
Born and raised in Debrecen, Hungary, Zsombor always had an interest in politics and foreign languages. After attending universities in Budapest, Hungary, and in Cracaw, Poland, he followed the path of his main interests that led to the start of his professional career in the Hungarian Foreign Service. He spent the next 10 years working for various Central European bilateral desks, and worked at the Hungarian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, as press and cultural attaché. This led him to gain a deeper understanding of the general Central European landscape, and Hungary’s position within the region.
We first met Zsombor when he applied for our Andrássy National Security Policy Fellowship in 2019. Throughout his year in Washington D.C., he conducted important research on various aspects of the US-CEE relationship.
“Our Andrássy Fellowship provided Zsombor the opportunity to demonstrate the leadership skillset, cultural sensitivity, intellectual depth, and commitment to building the US-Hungary relationship that made him the perfect candidate to lead this new initiative.“ – said HIF’s Executive Director Anna Smith Lacey.
Dr. Zoltán Szalai, Director of Mathias Corvinus Collegium added: “Zsombor started at MCC as a high school student and continued his MCC journey during his university years, graduating from our International Relations program. We are proud to see an MCC alumnus managing this exciting new transatlantic initiative.”
When we asked Zsombor about how his US experience will help him in his new position, he said:
“The US is turning towards Central and Eastern Europe with renewed attention, and rightly so. From a European aspect, the goal is to preserve this. In addition, we need to train the next generation of foreign and regional policy experts that can substantively shape the next era of US-CEE and US-Hungary relations.”
The Budapest Fellowship Program is about to take off for the very first time. Selected fellows will spend the upcoming 10 months in Hungary, to nurture the understanding of Central and Eastern European, and specifically, Hungarian history and culture, while conducting their personal research.
To learn more about the program, visit: www.budapestfellowship.org
