History

The Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program was established in honor of Ambassador Mike Mansfield. The legacy of this unique program is a reflection of the inspiring and humble U.S. statesman for whom it was named.

Establishment

The Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program was created through legislation co-authored by Yoshimasa Hayashi and Daniel Bob for U.S. Senator William V. Roth in 1991. The U.S. Congress enacted the legislation into law in 1993, and the Mansfield Foundation began recruiting for its first class of Mansfield Fellows shortly thereafter. Read more about the establishment of the Fellows program »

About Mike Mansfield

The story of Michael Joseph Mansfield’s prominence in U.S. government and international statecraft begins far away from the esteemed halls of Congress and the foreign streets of Tokyo. He was born to Irish immigrants in New York City and lived a hardscrabble childhood that took him around the United States. Fate brought him to Maureen Hayes, the moneyed daughter of a Montana family, who later became his partner in life and the principal inspiration of his career. With Maureen as his partner, he escaped the copper mines of Montana eventually to serve in the Senate Majority Leader’s chair for the longest period in that insitution’s history, and to represent the United States as our longest-serving Ambassador to Japan. Learn more about Mike Mansfield »