Melton Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Melton Foundation was established in 1991 to build a world-wide community of talented people from diverse cultures capable of addressing global issues based on principles of open communication and mutual respect. To accomplish this, the Melton Foundation sponsors a diverse array of ongoing events, activities, and interactions –both online and face-to-face– in order to deliver cross-cultural training and to build strong social and professional ties among its fellows.
The core activities of the Melton Foundation are made possible through an endowment provided by William Melton and Patricia Smith Melton in partnership with five host universities located in Chile
, China
, Germany
, India
, and the United States
. The Foundation is registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The Melton Foundation's “Guiding Principle,” developed through a participatory process involving all parts of the Melton community and approved during the 2000 annual symposium is:
“The Melton Foundation is committed to bringing positive change in the world through a network of people from diverse cultures empowered by lasting bonds of friendship, open communication and mutual respect.”'
bringing technology to the financial industry. He was the original founder of VeriFone Inc, the transaction automation company that has made credit authorization terminals ubiquitous on retail counters throughout the world. He was also an early investor in America Online and served on its Board of Directors for several years. He currently serves on the BOD for several private early stage technology companies. He holds a master’s degree in Asian Studies and Chinese Philosophy.
Patricia Smith Melton, The Melton Foundation co-founder, is actively involved in global forums in the area of conflict resolution. Patricia is a playwright with productions throughout the U.S., a photographer who has taught at the Smithsonian Institution
, a poet, and an entrepreneur. She is founder of, and currently focused on directing, the PeaceXPeace Global Network
. This organization uses the internet to connect women-based groups in the U.S. in one-to-one relationships with women-based groups working in their home nations outside the U.S. The aim is to foster the conditions necessary to achieve and maintain peace.
Fellows pass through two broad categories based on age and status: Junior Fellows and Senior Fellows .
Each of these two stages is further subdivided by life-cycle stages, geographic location, and personal and professional interests in order to pinpoint relevant programming for fellows.
The theme will be developed as a common learning platform for all Melton Fellows, university faculty, and members of the Foundation to develop an in-depth understanding of Identity, and the various facets and areas that define it, in collaboration with experts from around the world.
Since March 2011, Junior Fellows have been researching and discussing several sub-topics of 'Identity' in order to gain a more detailed perspective. The specific sub-topics being discussed this year are Identity in Education, Identity and Heritage, Sexual/Gender Identity, Identity in Art, Media and Internet Identity, and Identity and Sub-cultures. They will present their findings and opinions at the Symposium, while also gaining insight into these topics through expert talks and activities centered around this theme.
The Symposium will also include inter-cultural communications and global leadership development activities for the Fellows related to their responsibilities in the governance of the global network sponsored by the Melton Foundation and in delivering positive social change to their communities and societies.
The core activities of the Melton Foundation are made possible through an endowment provided by William Melton and Patricia Smith Melton in partnership with five host universities located in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Foundation is registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Background
When asked how it all started, the Foundation's founder William Melton recalls... “I remember a trip to Berlin, in 1989; shortly after the Wall came down, Patricia and I wondered what the result of mixing talented people, with a right set of tools and a healthy environment would create.” Therein lies the genesis of an initiative to attract especially talented individuals who have grown up in especially economically and politically dynamic environments and, using innovative approaches to combining online and traditional means of people-to-people exchange, build a network for mutual support and social impact.The Melton Foundation's “Guiding Principle,” developed through a participatory process involving all parts of the Melton community and approved during the 2000 annual symposium is:
“The Melton Foundation is committed to bringing positive change in the world through a network of people from diverse cultures empowered by lasting bonds of friendship, open communication and mutual respect.”'
Founders
William (Bill) Melton is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Global Internet Ventures, an Internet Holding Company. For more than 20 years, Melton has been an entrepreneurEntrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
bringing technology to the financial industry. He was the original founder of VeriFone Inc, the transaction automation company that has made credit authorization terminals ubiquitous on retail counters throughout the world. He was also an early investor in America Online and served on its Board of Directors for several years. He currently serves on the BOD for several private early stage technology companies. He holds a master’s degree in Asian Studies and Chinese Philosophy.
Patricia Smith Melton, The Melton Foundation co-founder, is actively involved in global forums in the area of conflict resolution. Patricia is a playwright with productions throughout the U.S., a photographer who has taught at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, a poet, and an entrepreneur. She is founder of, and currently focused on directing, the PeaceXPeace Global Network
Peace X Peace
Peace X Peace is a nonprofit women's organization founded in 2002 that promotes building peace through online communications.-History:Peace X Peace was founded in 2002 by Patricia Smith Melton...
. This organization uses the internet to connect women-based groups in the U.S. in one-to-one relationships with women-based groups working in their home nations outside the U.S. The aim is to foster the conditions necessary to achieve and maintain peace.
Activities
- Annual Symposium. Every year, the foundation gathers all of its fellows for a week long symposium. A different partner university hosts every year, which allows the partners to experience many different cultures.
- New Fellows Orientation Each new group of fellows participates in an orientation which provides them with skills necessary to proceed in the program.
- Photo Exhibition For the last 2 years, Fellows across various campuses have attempted to share a perspective of the country where the previous Symposium was hosted through a Photo Exhibition, where photographs are drawn from Fellows that visited the country.
- Campus Activities Each campus of the organization independently runs campus activities that are tied to the mission. Recent campus activities include Social Service Projects and Movie Festivals.
- TEDxMFZU In September 2010, Fellows of the Melton Foundation in Zhejiang University organized TEDxMFZU - an event attended by many members of the Melton Foundation. TEDx is an independently organized event, created in the spirit of TEDTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
's mission of "Ideas Worth Spreading". The theme of this TEDx was Ideas • Impact • China
- Workgroups Throughout the year, fellows work in small groups to study a problem of interest. The latest set of workgroups are discussing various facets of 'Identity', which is the topic for the 2011 Symposium of the Melton Foundation.
Fellowship
The Melton Fellowship is envisioned as a "lifelong fellowship." Fellows are selected as talented undergraduates and, while still students, undergo training and activities designed to forge the relationships and shared skills that become the basis of a global network for positive change in the world which sustains them, and is sustained by them, for a lifetime. Following university graduation, fellows continue to interact among their peers, mentor younger fellows, and become active in the governance of the network and its deployment for positive social impact.Fellows pass through two broad categories based on age and status: Junior Fellows and Senior Fellows .
Each of these two stages is further subdivided by life-cycle stages, geographic location, and personal and professional interests in order to pinpoint relevant programming for fellows.
Partner Universities
- FSU Friedrich Schiller Universität Friedrich Schiller University of JenaFriedrich Schiller University of Jena , is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany....
joined the program in 1991 as one of the founding institutions. FSU, located in the city of JenaJenaJena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
, was founded in 1558 and has more than 20,000 students.
- BMS Established in 1946, B. M. Sreenivasaiah College of Engineering has been part of the Melton network since 1992. BMS is located in BangaloreBangaloreBengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, the Garden City and Silicon Valley of India. Its sister institution, B.M.S. Institute of TechnologyB.M.S. Institute of TechnologyThe B.M.S. Institute of Technology , is a private engineering college in Bangalore, Karnataka, India affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum. It was founded by B S Narayana, son of educationist B M Sreenivasaiah, and is managed by the B M S Educational Trust...
, established in 2002, is also now a part of the Foundation.
- ZU Zhejiang UniversityZhejiang UniversityZhejiang University , sometimes referred to as Zheda, is a national university in China. Founded in 1897, Zhejiang University is one of China's oldest institutions of higher education...
located in HangzhouHangzhouHangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
, has been part of the network since 1992. With more than 41,000 students, ZU is considered one of the top 3 graduate schools in China.
- UFRO Universidad de La FronteraUniversidad de La FronteraUniversity of the Frontier or UFRO is a university in Temuco Chile. It is a derivative university and part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. UFRO boasts a student body with a variety of abilities and from a variety of backgrounds, many of Mapuche descent....
located in Temuco, . UFRO has been part of the program since 1994.
- DU Dillard UniversityDillard UniversityDillard University is a private, historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 incorporating earlier institutions that went back to 1869, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church....
, is currently the partner University in the United States. DU situated in New Orleans joined the network in 1995 as a private historically blackHistorically Black Colleges and UniversitiesHistorically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
faith based liberal arts institution.
- Westmar University (1890-1997) Westmar UniversityWestmar UniversityWestmar University was a private four-year liberal arts college in Le Mars, Iowa, U.S. It permanently closed on November 21, 1997.Westmar University was founded in 1887 as the Northwestern Normal School and Business College by Jacob Wernli, the Plymouth County Superintendent of Schools...
in Le Mars, IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, was the first partner university. Westmar was Bill and Patricia Smith Melton's alma mater.
2011 Symposium
This year, the Melton Foundation's annual Symposium will be hosted by Universidad de la Frontera (Temuco, Chile) from 26 September to 2 October, 2011. The event will convene approximately 120 Melton Fellows and members of their extended global academic community. The 2011 Symposium will be held in the environs of the Universidad de la Frontera in Temuco, Chile. The theme of this year's Symposium is 'Identity'.The theme will be developed as a common learning platform for all Melton Fellows, university faculty, and members of the Foundation to develop an in-depth understanding of Identity, and the various facets and areas that define it, in collaboration with experts from around the world.
Since March 2011, Junior Fellows have been researching and discussing several sub-topics of 'Identity' in order to gain a more detailed perspective. The specific sub-topics being discussed this year are Identity in Education, Identity and Heritage, Sexual/Gender Identity, Identity in Art, Media and Internet Identity, and Identity and Sub-cultures. They will present their findings and opinions at the Symposium, while also gaining insight into these topics through expert talks and activities centered around this theme.
The Symposium will also include inter-cultural communications and global leadership development activities for the Fellows related to their responsibilities in the governance of the global network sponsored by the Melton Foundation and in delivering positive social change to their communities and societies.
External links
- Melton Foundation official site
- 2011 Symposium Official Site
- Melton Foundation BMS official site
- Melton Foundation UFRO official site (in Spanish)
- Melton Foundation FSU official site (in German)
- B. M. Sreenivasaiah College of Engineering
- Dillard University
- Friedrich-Schiller-Universität
- Universidad de la Frontera
- Zhejiang University