Kent Dell, an Iraq War veteran and recent Michigan State University Honors College graduate, has been accepted into the Presidential Fellows Program.
Dell, from Fowler, is MSU’s eighth Presidential Fellows Program winner. He graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in public policy and is now pursuing his master’s degree in the same discipline.
The Presidential Fellows Program offers up to 75 top undergraduate and graduate students from leading colleges and universities across the country a yearlong opportunity to study the U.S. presidency, the public policymaking process and the chief executive’s relations with Congress, allies, the media and the American public.
“My area of research will involve exploring the decision calculus of the modern president when deciding whether or not to use military force,” Dell said. “As a veteran of the Iraq War, a parachute infantryman who served a total of 17 months in country, this unique role of the president is of great interest to me.”
Tapping into his own experience as a veteran, Dell completed an honors thesis regarding the use of the Post-9/11 GI Bill®. He recently presented his work at the Midwest Political Science Association conference.
He’s also worked as a research assistant to MSU Honors College Dean Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, most recently on a project examining the influence of institutions and demographics on legislators’ use of information sources when making policy decisions.
“Kent is a remarkable young man with a deep and abiding respect for all things American and in particular the inner workings of the political process,” Jackson-Elmoore said. “He has an insatiable desire to learn all that he can about government and governing. I have no doubt that he will thoughtfully, aggressively and systematically pursue the research inquiry he is proposing for the Presidential Fellows Program.”
Dell is interning at the MSU Center for Community and Economic Development. A recipient of the Purple Heart, he’s also an instructor for the U.S. Army Reserves.
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.