Class of 2020 First-Year Fellow: Albert Chen '20

Albert Chen ’20 hails from Westfield, New Jersey and graduated from Westfield High School as a National Merit Scholar. In high school, he was the drum major of the Marching Blue Devils and led the group to a USBands 5A National Championship. He also served as an officer for the 2016 YMCA Model UN Conference, played in the All-State Band, and studied at the New Jersey Governor’s School in the Sciences.

At Dartmouth, Albert serves as the Vice President of Operations for the Dartmouth Parliamentary Debate Team and works on the Finance & Strategy staff of The Dartmouth.

As a First-Year Fellow, Albert interned at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) under the mentorship of Danielle Downing ’99. As an intern, Albert did a variety of support work for staffers. “My primary responsibilities were conducting research for investigators, writing and following up on Freedom of Information Act requests, and organizing and analyzing databases of congressional staffers, Members of Congress, government contractors, and donors.” In addition to these responsibilities, he also wrote blog articles about newsworthy events and memos on congressional hearings and breaking news.

“I most enjoyed researching the Trump Administration’s efforts to roll back Dodd-Frank financial reforms. I worked with the Director of Investigations at POGO to cover the first of the Treasury Department’s reports, which extensively described proposed changes to the regulations of banks and depository institutions. As a prospective economics major, this project allowed me research a topic I am passionate about in great detail. To identify the potential implications of the changes proposed by the Department of Treasury, I read public statements by regulatory officials, op-eds, and research papers by experts in the field.”

After graduation, Albert hopes to attend law school and pursue a career as a prosecutor.