Logan Bonn ’25 Named a Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellow

Logan Bonn '25, a global development major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is one of 45 students from a pool of 1,500 applicants across the United States named a 2025 Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellow. Bonn is the fourth Cornellian to be named a Pickering fellow within the last seven years.

The Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship is a merit and needs-based U.S. State Department program cooperatively administered by the Bureau of Global Talent Management and Howard University. The program provides financial assistance for graduate school, two summer internships and professional mentoring opportunities. Upon the completion of a graduate program, Bonn will enter the United States Foreign Service — serving in a U.S. embassy, consulate, or diplomatic mission around the globe.    

“The Pickering Fellowship aligns perfectly with my interests, my skills, and my motivations,” Bonn said. “It allows me to do exactly what I want to do.”  

A career in foreign affairs piqued Bonn’s interest in high school. He grew up in Trumansburg, N.Y., a small town just outside Ithaca, and first experienced international cooperation at a student-led conference at the United Nations General Assembly. After high school, he took a gap year to play soccer in Spain and immerse himself in a different culture.

“I fell in love with it,” Bonn said. “When I came home, I set my sights on becoming a Foreign Service Officer.”

After studying and playing soccer at Binghamton University for a year, Bonn transferred to Cornell to study global development and quickly realized how valuable the university’s resources and opportunities were. Throughout his undergraduate career, he’s served as a student officer in the 660 Stewart Avenue co-op, walked onto the varsity football team, became a backpacking instructor with Cornell Outdoor Education, was chosen to be a Cornell Tradition fellow and served on the Community Partnership Funding Board at the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement. 

In his senior year, Bonn founded an initiative through the Einhorn Center called Campus Connection, which pairs Cornell undergraduates with local high schools to foster educational partnerships, cultural exchange and mentorship opportunities. He is also pursuing a senior honors thesis focused on supporting community adaptation to climate change in northwest Botswana, where he previously interned through the CALS Global Fellows Program.

“These efforts are my commitment to use the resources I have been afforded to give back to the communities that shaped me,” Bonn said.

Bonn started the application process for the Pickering Fellowship in March 2024, working with professors and advisors in the fellowships office within Cornell Career Services to craft his application materials. He met with Krista Saleet, the director of National Fellowships Advising, in the summer of 2024 to discuss his goals and create a plan for applying. 

Sarah Giroux, associate dean of academic affairs and strategic programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and associate professor of the practice in the Department of Global Development; and Julie Ficarra, a senior lecturer in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, also guided him through the application process.

When Bonn was named a finalist for the Pickering Fellowship, Saleet connected him with several people across campus to provide feedback on his application materials, including Thomas O’Toole, the executive director of public affairs programming in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. O’Toole and Saleet reviewed his personal essays and set up mock interviews with him in preparation for his final interview with the Pickering committee.

“It was a pleasure to work with Logan throughout the application process,” Saleet said. “He fully embodies the qualities that the Pickering Fellowship is looking for. This experience will be the springboard to an impactful career in diplomacy.”

Now a Pickering Fellow, Bonn will attend the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, spending one year at SAIS Europe in Bologna and one year in Washington, D.C.          

As he reflects on his fellowship journey, the biggest piece of advice he has for Cornellians interested in fellowships is to take that first step. He also encourages his peers to build relationships with professors and to participate in campus life.

“Get involved in on-and off-campus organizations to find your community, build essential skills, and gain valuable experience,” Bonn said. “Fellowships are selective, but you never know if you’ll get it unless you try. There are opportunities out there that could completely change your life."