Two Phi Theta Kappa Alumni Chosen as White House Fellows

Two Phi Theta Kappa alumni were among the 14 outstanding young Americans named to the White House Fellows Class of 2006-07. Chosen in a highly competitive selection process, each Fellow works full time as a special assistant to a Cabinet member or senior presidential advisor and also participates in an education program designed to nurture his or her development as a leader.

Fellow Bedouin Joseph, an attorney in New Jersey, was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa at Florida Community College. He has been placed with the Office of Management and Budget.

Fellow Wes Moore, a Rhodes Scholar and 2006 International Convention panelist, was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa at Valley Forge Military College in Pennsylvania. He has been placed in the Department of State.

"The White House Fellows program is an extraordinarily competitive program for proven leaders who will have significant impact on the future of public policy in our country. To have two Phi Theta Kappa members named Fellows this year gives evidence that two-year colleges today serve as an effective and viable channel for accessing significant leadership positions previously reserved for the elite," said Phi Theta Kappa's Executive Director, Rod Risley, who addressed the 2006-07 Class of White House Fellows during their recent retreat in Virginia.

Joseph is a complex litigation and class action attorney at Adams and Reese LLP. He has represented Fortune 100 clients in civil actions involving claims of property contamination, exposure to radiation and hazardous chemicals.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Bedouin was the officer-in-charge of the Transportation section of the 174th Fighter Wing, Syracuse (New York). He also served as officer-in-charge of the Management and Systems Flight of the Logistics Squadron at the 174th Fighter Wing, and prior to that, as a Medical Corpsman with the 3rd Combat Medical Battalion at Marine Corps Base Camp Hansen (Okinawa, Japan).

He is a former Regimental Commander at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. His community activities include service as co-chair and team leader for Rebuilding Together (formerly Christmas in October), board member and Executive Committee member of the Preservation Resource Center, volunteer attorney for the Pro Bono Project, tutor and mentor for at-risk children in various programs.

He has published legal articles in the Louisiana State Bar Journal and the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal. His awards include Top 25 Multicultural Leader, Distinguished Service as a Pro Bono Volunteer, Naval Order of the United States New York Commandery, and Community Service Volunteer of the Year.

Joseph received a law degree from the Florida State University College of Law, a bachelor of science degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, and an Unlimited Third Mate License with radar observer endorsement from the U.S. Coast Guard.

At 27 Moore is the youngest of the White House Fellows and was the subject of recent C-Span coverage of the Fellows program. He is an investment banker with Deutsche Bank's prestigious Global Markets Division in New York and London. His work focuses on structuring and procuring a range of complex transactions in emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Moore, a paratrooper and Captain in the United States Army Reserves, recently returned from a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan, where he served as the Director of Information Operations with the elite 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division.

During the tour he spearheaded the American strategic support plan for the Afghan Reconciliation Program that unites former insurgents with the new Afghan Government.

Prior to his career in finance, Moore completed a master of letters degree in International Relations from Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. His thesis topic was "The Rise and Ramifications of Radical Islam in the Western Hemisphere."

After attending Valley Forge, where he was president of his Phi Theta Kappa chapter, Moore graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University and was inducted into the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame.

Moore's troubled childhood led him to found a non-profit organization that works with youth justice offenders, which still effectively functions to this day. He is also authoring a book about African-American involvement in international affairs.

Moore served as a panelist during the debate between Newt Gingrich and James Carville at Phi Theta Kappa's 2002 International Convention in Nashville and as a positor for the 2006 International Convention in Seattle for speaker Madeleine Albright.

Founded in 1964, the White House Fellows program is America's most prestigious program for leadership and public service. White House Fellowships offer exceptional young men and women first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government.

White House Fellows typically spend a year working as full-time, paid special assistants to senior White House Staff, the Vice President, Cabinet Secretaries and other top-ranking government officials.

Fellows also participate in an education program consisting of roundtable discussions with renowned leaders from the private and public sectors, and trips to study U.S. policy in action both domestically and internationally. Fellowships are awarded on a strictly non-partisan basis.

Learn more about the White House Fellows Program and other Phi Theta Kappa alumni online.