Yale’s Millstone Fellowship: Empowering the Next Generation of Public Servants

The smell of the Oval Office imprinted on Austan Goolsbee.

In a tense meeting of advisers with President Barack Obama during the 2008 financial crisis, Goolsbee, Yale Class of ’91, presented an argument that was in the distinct minority. He recalls some raised voices in response but his mind wandered a little during the harangues. 

“I look over my shoulder and there on the wall is the original Emancipation Proclamation,” Goolsbee said. “I’m in the Oval Office with the first Black president, who I have spent the last three years working to help get here. And I’m like, ‘Whoa.’”

And in that way memories and odors can link together with deep immediacy, Goolsbee remembers that day like he just sniffed it.

“The smell of the Oval Office is something I’ll never forget,” he said. “It’s both amazing and emotionally charged.”

Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisors for Obama, delivered this and other stories of his public service to a group of new and former students accepted for the Millstone Fellowship in Public Service in Yale College, offered through the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS).

“Your backgrounds are impressive, and there’s no higher calling than public service,” Goolsbee told the fellows, adding that the American tradition also values people who serve their country and then return to their previous careers. “Public service doesn’t just happen in government. You can maintain an interest in public service while working in the private sector.”

Yale College alumni Jennifer Millstone ’00 and David Millstone ’99 funded this fellowship to support undergraduates’ summer internships in public service by providing a stipend that can help offset the costs of housing, transportation, and other expenses.

“The Millstone Fellowship allows for me to engage in public service without having to worry if an internship is paid or unpaid,” said August Rios, ’26. “I could just apply to things that fit my area of focus.”

Rios will work this summer as an intern for the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee, focusing on housing.

“I think public service is unparalleled in the sense that in no other career are you able to achieve longstanding change while also working directly with individuals who are impacted by that change,” he said.

Araya Miller, ’26, aims to give back to marginalized communities and improve the lives of people in Connecticut, the state in which she was raised.

“It’s great to know that we can do this kind of work with the support of Yale and a fellowship like this,” Miller said. “We all have voices. And we can use those voices to propel change.”

Led by ISPS faculty fellow and Assistant Professor of Political Science Christina Kinane, the fellowship not only provides financial support but organizes speaker events and roundtables for fellows to learn from the experiences of Yale alumni serving throughout government. The program offers students the chance to gain practical experience, connect with peers, and build professional networks as they embark on their careers.

“What’s great about this program is the value it offers beyond the internship,” said Kaj Litch, ’26, who will be working this summer on cybersecurity issues for the Department of the Army. “I’m excited to meet people who have come before me.”

Kyle Thomas Ramos, ’26, plans to work this summer for the U.S. Department of Justice. An ISPS Dahl scholar and a research assistant for Kinane, Ramos has cultivated an interest in inter-branch politics of the federal bureaucracy.

“Historically, the bureaucracy is filled with a lot of highly skilled individuals who really care about government and the work they do,” Ramos said, adding his appreciation for the Millstone Fellowship and Professor Kinane’s mentorship. “She always lets us guide the conversation.”

ISPS Director Alan Gerber, Sterling Professor of Political Science, praised Kinane’s leadership as the fellowship program’s founding faculty director.

“Professor Kinane has established an amazing track record and launched the program in a great direction through her talent, energy, and dedication to students doing critical work,” Gerber said. “Her expertise studying the federal bureaucracy is beautifully aligned with this work, and we are extraordinary lucky to have someone like her leading it.”

Quinn Luong, ’26, will spend his summer as a press-digital intern at the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, aiming to elevate his career in public service with legislative and policymaking, and digital media and traditional press experience.

While he worked last summer as a constituent services intern for Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Penn., and as a research assistant for Connecticut Superior Court Judge Douglas Lavine, Luong commitment to public service began long before attending college..

“I grew up in my mother’s nail salon, where many immigrants worked, and helped out there since I was little,” he said. “It’s there where I listened to customers’ needs, solved disputes, and cared for the immigrant community that raised me. Looking back, I would say that this prepared me well for a career in public service.”

Meet this year’s class of Millstone fellows: