Kent Dell, an Iraq War veteran and senior in the Michigan State University Honors College, has been nominated for the Presidential Fellows Program.
Dell would be MSU’s 8th Presidential Fellows Program winner. He’s pursuing a joint bachelor’s and master’s degree in public policy in the Department of Political Science within the College of Social Science.
The program offers up to 75 top undergraduate and graduate students from colleges and universities across the country a yearlong opportunity to study the U.S. presidency, the public policymaking process and the president's relations with Congress, allies, the media and the American public.
“My area of research would involve exploring the decision calculus of the modern president when deciding whether or not to use military force,” said Dell, who's from Fowler. “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 and non-use of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. He recently presented his work at the Midwest Political Science Association conference.
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.