Student Highlight: William (Bill) Merkle
WILLIAM (BILL) MERKLE
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Languages: English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese
Semester: 3rd
Favorite Course: Foreign Investment Law with Professor Benedict Kingsbury
Bill is an active duty officer in the United States Air Force. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a BS in Humanities and academic distinction in 2014. In 2015, Bill completed a graduate fellowship at the Asian Studies Center of The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. He has published articles about security and economy in the Asia-Pacific with The National Interest, a leading defense newspaper in Washington, D.C. and with the University of Pennsylvania’s SIR Journal of International Relations.
Bill served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan from 2009 to 2011. He provided humanitarian assistance during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. In March 2012, Bill formed a service club called “Cadets in Action Overseas” (CIAO), where he led a team of cadets to clear debris from water drains in devastated fishing villages in northern Japan. CIAO also provided humanitarian assistance in Haiti in December 2012 under Bill’s leadership. Bill was recognized as a 2013 Truman Scholarship Finalist for these accomplishments.
Bill also completed a six-month study abroad to Nanjing, China. His interests include disaster relief, international investment law, and the study of U.S.-Japan and U.S.-Australia relations. Bill also holds his private pilot license and will enter pilot training in January 2016.