BSAH Fellowship

The Bridgestone Americas Fellowship in Environmental Management

About the Bridgestone Americas Fellowship
Who Should Apply?
How to Apply
A Completed Application Packet Includes...
About Bridgestone Americas, Inc.

About the Bridgestone Americas Fellowship

Bridgestone Americas Holdings, Inc., (Bridgestone Americas) and the Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies (VCEMS) are pleased to invite applications for the Bridgestone Americas Fellowship in Environmental Management. The Fellowship supports students with research interests in Environmental Management who are pursuing a Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University in an appropriate related discipline. The term of the fellowship is three years. Fellows, generally students with a previous professional degree (Master's, J.D.), pursue a customized course of study towards the Ph.D. In addition, they work actively at Bridgestone Americas' corporate headquarters in Nashville. The Fellowship covers tuition and fees and provides a monthly stipend.

Bridgestone Americas has achieved leadership in the management of environmental issues company-wide. Most notably, Bridgestone Americas has integrated its environmental, legal, and technical specialists into one corporate environmental management group. This consolidation of the diverse professional disciplines involved in environmental management into a single, well-coordinated effort has delivered major cost savings and operational efficiencies. Bridgestone Americas Fellows carry on this tradition of excellence in environmental management by working directly with the General Counsel Environmental and his staff, plant environmental coordinators, and other Bridgestone Americas associates.

In addition to pursuing academic studies, the Fellows are expected to take an active role in applying principles learned in the classroom to real-world problems at Bridgestone Americas. This participation may take many forms. For example, the Fellows may work on individual projects in the corporate environmental law department, analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of pollution prevention projects in Bridgestone Americas' tire plants, or conduct risk analyses of company operations. Throughout the year, Fellows are available to Bridgestone Americas 10-15 hours per week. Students must satisfy the core requirements of their respective program while adding specialized courses in environmental management.

The combination of applied work at Bridgestone Americas and doctoral-level studies at Vanderbilt is designed to help the Fellows become experts in mastering the conception and implementation of environmental management solutions built on a sound foundation. Graduates of VCEMS programs have gone on to careers in multinational corporations, environmental management consulting, and academia.

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Who Should Apply

Applicants from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Current and former students involved with VCEMS have backgrounds in engineering, economics, divinity, technology, business administration, and law. In most cases, students entering with a professional degree (e.g., Master's, J.D.) will be able to transfer and/or place out of a significant number of courses.

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How to Apply

Applicants must submit a completed application to the Vanderbilt University Graduate School. Applications will be considered thereafter until the fellowships are awarded. Each hard copy application must be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of $40. The Graduate School waives the application fee if the application is submitted online. Applicants must follow the procedures for applying to either the Engineering School or the Owen School. When applying to one of these programs, applicants should notify VCEMS that their application is being submitted by sending an e-mail to mark.a.cohen@vanderbilt.edu.

The Graduate School accepts applications online - click here to visit the Graduate School website and download an application. To receive hard copies of the application materials, please send a request to the Graduate School at the following address:

The Graduate School

Vanderbilt University
411 Kirkland Hall

Nashville, TN 37240

Application Packet

The following should be sent to the Vanderbilt University Graduate School, 411 Kirkland Hall, Nashville, TN 37240. For more detailed information, visit the Graduate School website.

Two copies of the application form and all supporting materials
Statement of Purpose. This is a very important part of your application. Please prepare it carefully on the page provided online, using a typewriter, or printing neatly and legibly.
Transcripts. Two official transcripts (bearing the signature of the registrar and the seal of the institution) of all post-secondary work are required. These transcripts must be obtained from your registrar in sealed envelope(s) and enclosed with other application materials. If you send transcripts separately from the application, you must indicate to which department you are applying. If a registrar will provide official copies only to the Graduate School directly, please complete a transcript request form (following the application pages) for each transcript and give it to your registrar. Two copies of unofficial student transcripts also can be sent for temporary reference until official transcripts arrive.
Graduate Record Examination Scores. Scores on the GRE General Test are required as part of the application to the Graduate School. (Vanderbilt University school code 1871, department code not required)
Acknowledgment of Application Card. Please address a postcard to yourself, place a U.S. stamp on it (if you are in the U.S.), and enclose it with your application. This card will be completed by the Graduate School and returned to you to confirm that your application packet and fee have been received.

Send (or have sent) to VCEMS at the address above:

A resume or curriculum vitae;
A business writing sample such as a project proposal, a memo reporting findings, a research report, a brief, or a background document (please do not send confidential or privileged materials);
Three letters of recommendation in duplicate from persons qualified to evaluate your academic and professional qualifications.
A photocopy of standardized test scores (applicants who have not yet taken the GRE but have taken another standardized test within the last five years (GMAT, LSAT, MAT) are encouraged to submit these scores pending the GRE test).

About Bridgestone Americas

Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc., is the largest subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation of Japan, the world's biggest tire and rubber company. Bridgestone Americas develops, manufactures, and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and private brand tires for almost every type of vehicle. In the United States, Bridgestone Americas tires are sold at 1,500 company-owned stores and by more than 8,000 independent tire dealers. The company also produces air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber, and industrial fibers and textiles.

Bridgestone Americas operates 16 tire plants and 20 non-tire manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexican, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and New Zealand. Bridgestone Americas has annual sales of more than $6.5 billion and a total investment in North and South America of more than $6 billion. More than 45,000 employees produce and market approximately 50 million tires each year.