OURS National Scholarships

Congratulations to Ashwin Joshi (’28, Interdisciplinary Studies), who has been named as a recipient of the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service. The “Voyager” Scholarship is a two-year leadership development and scholarship program. Ashwin is the seventh Berkeley undergraduate to receive this honor since the Voyager Scholarship was launched in 2022. Ashwin, who is from Kennneick, WA, is interested in ownership transparency in healthcare real estate. At UC Berkeley, his Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) research mapped corporate ownership across all 2,192 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities in California, Florida,

Anna Lieggi (’26, Political Science/Global Studies) has been named one of 65 Americans selected to study and work in Germany as part of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals program. Now in its 43rd year, CBYX is a bilateral exchange program of the U.S. Congress and German Bundestag (Parliament). The program is administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs through non-profit partners. While in Germany, Anna will attend a two-month intensive language course, study at a German university, and complete an internship.

Sophia Young (’25, Cognitive Science & Data Science) has been selected to join the inaugural cohort of Lafayette Fellows, a graduate scholarship program that supports up to 30 American students with an interest in addressing global challenges in a French-American context. The Fellowship offers full funding for one year of master’s-level study in France as well as leadership training. A native of Oakland, California, Sophia graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. While at Berkeley, she worked as a Cognitive Science peer advisor, ran the Transfer Student Living and

Dan Zhu (‘23, Data Science/Business Administration) has been selected to join the 2026 cohort of Knight-Hennessy Scholars, a fully-endowed, multidisciplinary leadership development program for graduate students at Stanford University. Scholars, who come from around the globe, receive up to three years of financial support to pursue graduate studies at any of Stanford’s seven schools while engaging in experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders capable of taking on the world’s most difficult challenges. Dan will be pursuing an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business and

We would like to wrap up the 2025–2026 academic year by congratulating all of the current Cal Bears and recent alums who received nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships this academic year, as well as those who submitted strong applications for more than 30 scholarship and fellowship programs our office supports.  Scholarship Recipients (pictured left to right, top to bottom): Astronaut ScholarshipZachary Cooper (’27, Molecular and Cell Biology/Business Administration) CBYXAnna Lieggi (’26, Political Science/Global Studies) Churchill ScholarshipCarolyn Nguyen (’26, Molecular and Cell Biology/Business Administration) Critical Language ScholarshipAidan Morgan Chan (’26, Economics/Statistics/Linguistics) Goldwater

by Liza Davitaia Kristie Moore (’27, Global Studies) has been selected to receive a 2026 Strauss Scholarship, which provides a $15,000 award consisting of a $7,000 scholarship and an $8,000 project grant. Kristie will use this funding to lead Central Asia Peace Scholars, a year-long program empowering 150 youth from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan through leadership training, peace education, and community projects. Kristie has studied Russian and Tajiki through the Critical Language Scholarship Program (CLS) and the Boren Scholarship and conducted field research across Central Asia. She plans to pursue

by Liza Davitaia UC Berkeley senior Carolyn Nguyen (’26) has been selected as a 2026–27 Winston Churchill Scholar, making her Berkeley’s first recipient in a decade. Awarded by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States, the Churchill Scholarship supports a year of master’s study at Churchill College, Cambridge, for students pursuing advanced work in science, mathematics, and engineering. A double major in Molecular and Cell Biology and Business Administration (Haas), Nguyen is passionate about advancing next-generation therapeutics. At Berkeley, she conducts research in Dr. James Nuñez’s lab, applying CRISPR-based

by Jessica Park African American Studies and Political Science Alumna Sydney Roberts has been awarded a 2026–27 Schwarzman Scholarship. Roberts, a former ASUC president who graduated from Cal in 2024 as a double major in the Berkeley Social Sciences Division, is one of 150 inspiring and innovative leaders selected from a pool of more than 5,800 candidates worldwide — the largest applicant pool in the program’s history. She is Berkeley’s 21st recipient of the award since its founding in 2013. This fall, Roberts will participate in a one-year, fully funded

Congratulations to juniors Janessa Reyes (Asian American & Asian Diaspora Studies), Vinaya Sivakumar (Cognitive Science/Interdisciplinary Studies), and Annabel Gensler (Political Science) — left to right — who have been selected to join the 2025–2027 cohort of the Voyager Scholarship for Public Service (Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service) created by the Obamas and Brian Chesky, CEO and Co-Founder of Airbnb. The two-year Voyager Scholarship provides scholarships of up to $50,000 to help shape 100 young leaders who can bridge divides and help solve our biggest challenges. The program offers students financial

We would like to wrap up the 2024–2025 academic year by congratulating all of the current Cal Bears and recent alums who received nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships this academic year, as well as those who submitted strong applications for the 35 scholarship and fellowship programs our office supports. Astronaut Scholars – Carolyn Van-Dy Nguyen (’26) Boren Scholarship – Kristie Moore (’26) Critical Language Scholarship – Alexandra “Sasha” Bergseid (’29), Giselle Carreño (‘25), Utkarsh Dubey (‘27), Abigail Klein (’26), Tiffany Mar (’25), Khephra Owl (’25), and Arya Vishin (‘25) Goldwater