September 17, 2009 — Coral Gables — The University of Miami School of Law is pleased to welcome a new international student on campus as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program. Joining the University of Miami family is Aida Satylganova from Kyrgyzstan. The Muskie program is highly competitive, averaging over 3,000 applications per year with a 5% rate of acceptance.

Ms. Satylganova has practiced law for six years with the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic and at a private law firm, specializing in contracts and corporate issues. She’s studying in the graduate program for an LL.M. degree with specialization in U.S. and Transnational Law for Foreign Lawyers.

“We are very pleased to continue our strong ties with the Muskie program,” stated Jessica Carvalho Morris - Director of Professional Programs. “We are particularly thrilled to have Aida, from Kyrgyzstan, joining our very diverse international program comprised of lawyers from more than 20 different countries.”

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 to encourage economic and democratic growth in Eurasia, the Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State (ECA), and administered by IREX. The Graduate Fellowship Program aims to promote mutual understanding, the building of democracy and the fostering of transitional market economies in Eurasia through intensive academic, professional training for fellows from 12 countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition to their academic coursework, all fellows perform community service and complete a summer internship in their area of study. For more information, visit http://www.irex.org/programs/muskie/index.asp.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries to promote friendly, sympathetic, and peaceful relations, as mandated by the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchanges Act of 1961. ECA accomplishes its mission through a range of programs based on the benefits of mutual understanding, international educational and cultural exchange, and leadership development. For more information about ECA exchanges, visit http://exchanges.state.gov.

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The University of Miami School of Law’s mission is to foster the intellectual discipline, creativity, and critical skills that will prepare its graduates for the highest standards of professional competence in the practice of law in a global environment subject to continual ― and not always predictable ― transformation; to cultivate a broad range of legal and interdisciplinary scholarship that, working at the cutting edge of its field, enhances the development of law and legal doctrine, and deepens society’s understanding of law and its role in society; and to fulfill the legal profession’s historic duty to promote the interests of justice. http://www.law.miami.edu