Marguerite Jimenez came to American University in 2005, and has since taught public policy, worked with undergraduate students in the global health program, and was a faculty adviser for the graduate student research journal. Her research has focused on international health cooperation and expanding access to public health innovations such as vaccines in lower and middle-income countries. She studied vocal performance at the Berklee College of Music before finding a passion for public policy and earning her MA in International Service and PhD in Political Science at American University.

The President's Commission on White House Fellowships recently appointed Jimenez, who has also a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Public Affairs last year, to the 2014-2015 Class of White House Fellows. Jimenez was one of 15 Fellows to be awarded the prestigious position out of a field of more than 2,000 applicants.

President Lyndon B. Johnson started the White House Fellows program in 1964 in order to provide dedicated public servants the opportunity to experience Federal government operations firsthand. As future leaders of the nation, President Johnson envisioned that Fellows could use their experiences in the program to "increase their sense of participation in national affairs."

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"I came to SPA because of the school's historic commitment to public scholarship. I stayed at SPA because of the ongoing faculty commitment to doing outstanding scholarly research that was also relevant beyond the classroom or the walls of the academy. These were among the best decisions I've ever made."