Travis Gidado, JD/MBA ’22, Earns Fellowship to Study US-Russia Relations
Travis Gidado, JD/MBA ’22, is one of 51 scholars from across the world selected for the 2020-21 research program of the Stanford US-Russia Forum, an organization that promotes collaboration and dialogue between American and Russian students. Throughout the academic year, fellows will explore US-Russia relations through research in fields including security and arms control, economic development, climate and the environment, media, and humanities.
Gidado is working with three other fellows on a research project focusing on counterterrorism.
“This relationship is important to understand no matter how my career unfolds,” said Gidado, who was chosen from a pool of more than 700 applicants. “I wanted to get a better sense of contemporary Russian affairs, and it’s a tremendous privilege to have been accepted given the program’s competitive entry requirements.”
Gidado’s academic interests rest at the intersection of business, law, and public policy, with a particular emphasis on FinTech developments, regulatory regime changes, anti-corruption frameworks, and great power politics. Over the past year, he produced a report on pro bono legal services in Greece for Transparency International and completed an independent study chronicling China’s effort to create a digital sovereign currency. In the fall, he served as an intern with the US House of Representatives’ Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
An engaged member of the Law School community, Gidado has been active in several groups, including the Black Law Students Association, the International Immersion Program, and more. He is the founder of Bridges, a first-person writing program in which second- and third-year students explore the impact of identity on the Law School experience.
Gidado graduated from Yale University with a BA in Ethics, Politics and Economics before joining Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was a legal analyst for the firm’s commercial banking arm. Later, he earned an MPhil in Public Policy from King’s College, Cambridge, and a Master of Law in China Studies from the Yenching Academy of Peking University, where he was a Yenching Scholar.
Gidado also has worked for a range of public and private sector institutions, such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the White House during the Obama administration, Atlantic Media Company, and Milbank LLP.