Clare Selgin Wolfowitz facts for kids

Clare Selgin Wolfowitz (born November 1945) is an American expert who studies people and cultures, especially in Indonesia. She works at the University of Maryland, College Park in a group that helps governments and organizations work better, focusing on projects in Indonesia. She also works with USAID, which is a U.S. government agency that helps people around the world.

Clare is also on the board of Health In Harmony, a group that helps protect nature and improve health in Indonesia. Her first trip to Indonesia was in 1962 as an exchange student, which means she lived there for a short time to learn about the culture.

In 1968, she married Paul Wolfowitz. He later became an important government official, serving as the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense and then as the head of the World Bank Group, which helps countries with their finances. Clare and Paul met when they were students at Cornell University. They have three children together.

Clare is also the half-sister of Peter Selgin, who is an author, and George Selgin, who is an economist.

What Does an Anthropologist Do?

An anthropologist is a scientist who studies people, their societies, and their cultures. They learn about how different groups of people live, what they believe, and how they interact with each other. Clare Selgin Wolfowitz specializes in Indonesia, which means she has spent a lot of time learning about the people and cultures there.

Working to Help Others

Clare works with the IRIS center at the University of Maryland. This group helps improve how governments and other organizations work, especially in countries like Indonesia. She also works with USAID, which stands for the United States Agency for International Development. USAID helps countries around the world with things like health, education, and economic growth.

Clare is also involved with Health In Harmony. This is a special group that works to protect the environment and improve health for people at the same time. For example, they might help a community protect its forests, which then helps the health of the people living nearby.

Her Early Life and Family

Clare was born in November 1945. When she was a teenager, she went to Indonesia as an exchange student. This experience helped her learn a lot about the country and its people, which later became her main area of study.

She met her husband, Paul Wolfowitz, when they were both studying at Cornell University. Paul Wolfowitz held very important jobs in the U.S. government and at the World Bank, which is an international organization that provides money and advice to developing countries.

Clare also has two well-known half-brothers: Peter Selgin, who writes books and draws, and George Selgin, who studies economics.

Books She Has Written

Clare Selgin Wolfowitz has written a book called Language Style and Social Space: Stylistic Choice in Suriname Javanese. This book was published in 1991 and is about how people use language in different ways in a place called Suriname, focusing on a language called Javanese.