As Chairman Bill Archer prepared to retire from Congress, he began to think about what he wanted to do with his legacy. He looked over his accomplishments while in public service and believed strongly in building on a program he began as a freshman representative — an internship program that brought high school students from his district to Washington, D.C. The program had been a very successful endeavor that allowed one representative student from each high school in the district to visit Washington over spring break and take the lessons learned back to their classes back home. Over the 30 years this program ran, Congressman Archer gave these students experiences in leadership and noble public service.
Chairman Archer and his longtime chief of staff, Don Carlson, explored ways to build upon this idea. They partnered with his alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas System to create the Archer Center in Washington, D.C. This Center was to be the D.C. home of all academic programs and experiential learning for students, staff, faculty, and alumni from the various campuses of the UT System. Over the course of the first two years, Chairman Archer helped to raise an endowment that would provide seed funding for a full-time staff member and a basic budget for the first programs. Chairman Archer made a generous donation as he closed out his campaign fund, and many individuals and businesses also helped provide for the initial endowment.
In January 2001, just as Chairman Archer was shifting out of his life in public service and back to the private sector for the first time in 40 years, the inaugural class of the Archer Fellowship Program, comprised of 10 students from UT Austin, arrived in Washington, D.C. In the last 25 years, more than 2,200 of the brightest undergraduate, graduate, and medical students from across the UT System have participated in a semester- or summer-long experiential learning program that allows each student to work in a full-time internship and attend courses for in-residence credit. Archer Fellows work in the White House, across Capitol Hill, in various federal agencies and nonprofits, in international organizations, and in the governmental arms of private sector entities.
Archer Fellows have used their semester in Washington as a springboard to impactful careers or to pursue graduate training at the best institutions this country and the world have to offer. Hundreds of our fellows have since graduated from or are enrolled in doctoral programs or professional programs in law and medicine at such prestigious universities as Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, Oxford, Georgetown, London School of Economics, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and every campus within the UT System. Their accomplishments have been distinguished by the awarding of Truman, Marshall, Rhodes, Schwarzman, and Fulbright Scholarships in further support of their education.
The Archer Center is thriving in Washington and continuing to build a portfolio of programs to further carry out Chairman Archer's mission to educate the next generation of leaders for local, state, federal, and international service. The future awaits us. We hope to continue growing and provide a larger home for individuals traveling to D.C. and even more opportunities to live, learn, and work in our nation's capital.
Chairman Archer and his longtime chief of staff, Don Carlson, explored ways to build upon this idea. They partnered with his alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas System to create the Archer Center in Washington, D.C. This Center was to be the D.C. home of all academic programs and experiential learning for students, staff, faculty, and alumni from the various campuses of the UT System. Over the course of the first two years, Chairman Archer helped to raise an endowment that would provide seed funding for a full-time staff member and a basic budget for the first programs. Chairman Archer made a generous donation as he closed out his campaign fund, and many individuals and businesses also helped provide for the initial endowment.
In January 2001, just as Chairman Archer was shifting out of his life in public service and back to the private sector for the first time in 40 years, the inaugural class of the Archer Fellowship Program, comprised of 10 students from UT Austin, arrived in Washington, D.C. In the last 25 years, more than 2,200 of the brightest undergraduate, graduate, and medical students from across the UT System have participated in a semester- or summer-long experiential learning program that allows each student to work in a full-time internship and attend courses for in-residence credit. Archer Fellows work in the White House, across Capitol Hill, in various federal agencies and nonprofits, in international organizations, and in the governmental arms of private sector entities.
Archer Fellows have used their semester in Washington as a springboard to impactful careers or to pursue graduate training at the best institutions this country and the world have to offer. Hundreds of our fellows have since graduated from or are enrolled in doctoral programs or professional programs in law and medicine at such prestigious universities as Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, Oxford, Georgetown, London School of Economics, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and every campus within the UT System. Their accomplishments have been distinguished by the awarding of Truman, Marshall, Rhodes, Schwarzman, and Fulbright Scholarships in further support of their education.
The Archer Center is thriving in Washington and continuing to build a portfolio of programs to further carry out Chairman Archer's mission to educate the next generation of leaders for local, state, federal, and international service. The future awaits us. We hope to continue growing and provide a larger home for individuals traveling to D.C. and even more opportunities to live, learn, and work in our nation's capital.
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