Raised in suburban Long Island, Ruddy earned a master's degree in public policy from the London School of Economics, signed on as a journalist first at the New York Post, then as a national correspondent for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, owned by billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife.

FORBES: Media

Mason found support in 2006 at the University of Chicago, which granted him a scholarship toward a master's degree in public policy.

FORBES: Entrepreneurs

"Mexico ought to be producing more of its own gas, and eventually exporting it, " Mr. Lozoya, a lawyer and economist who got his master's degree in public policy at Harvard said.

WSJ: Mexico Sees Energy as Key to Reset Economy

The programme aims to send 200 students a year to take a year-long master's degree at Tsinghua - in subjects including public policy, international relations, economics and business, and engineering - from 2016.

BBC: Stephen Schwarzman unveils $300m China scholarship fund