Four Indian American students —Divya Ganesan, Rishika Kartik, Pranav Pattatathunaduvil and Maya Prakash — are among the latest cohort of Schwarzman Scholars, joining an elite global group selected for leadership, academic excellence, and commitment to public service.
They are among 150 selected scholars, representing 40 countries and 83 universities from around the world, who will attend a one-year, fully-funded master’s degree program in global affairs at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
Starting in August 2026, the scholars selected for the eleventh cohort will engage in a graduate curriculum focused on leadership, global affairs, and China, according to a news release.
The students are taught by leading faculty from Tsinghua as well as from many globally recognized international universities, and attend lectures delivered by global thought leaders.
The program’s unique combination of coursework, cultural immersion, and personal and professional development equips Schwarzman Scholars with a well-rounded understanding of China’s changing role in the world, critically important to leadership in any field in the 21st century, according to the release.
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“We are thrilled to welcome the eleventh cohort to Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University,” said Xue Lan, Dean of Schwarzman College. “I am eager to see them advance our commitment to global collaboration and transformative knowledge, as they work together to tackle this century’s greatest challenges and enrich our entire community.”
Among the four Indian American scholars, Divya Ganesan is completing a master’s in Computer Science and a bachelor’s in Political Science at Stanford University. She served as Stanford’s Student Body Vice President, receiving the Lloyd Dinkelspiel Award for service, and started Stanford’s first all-girls cybersecurity team, the nationally recognized #CyberSuperGirls.
Her honors thesis examined why AI companies join voluntary safety commitments. Divya hopes to leverage secure technology to strengthen global institutions and improve national security decision-making, all while making space at the table for others.
Rishika Kartik is a senior at Brown University studying Biology and Accessible Design, a degree she pioneered. A U.S. Presidential Scholar and TEDx speaker with millions of views, she advances disability and assistive technology research while expanding artistic opportunities for blind communities through Touch and Create Studios, which she founded.
She developed a healthy aging program at Hawaii’s leading Center for the Blind and has spoken at institutions, including Johns Hopkins University and Johnson & Johnson. Rishika integrates science and design to support global conversations on disability, technology, and inclusive design.
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Pranav Pattatathunaduvil is a second-year MPP student in the Yale Jackson School’s BA/MPP Program in Global Affairs. He is passionate about Indo-Pacific geopolitics, especially U.S.–India–China relations and the region’s tech competition, and aspires to work in foreign policy.
Pranav is the co-founder of the GeoTech Initiative, which aims to get students involved at the intersection of tech and international relations, and he spearheaded the first and second GeoTech Forums, which convened over 200 STEM and policy students from around the U.S. in Washington, D.C. He has previously interned at the State Department and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Pranav is from the United States.
Maya Prakash is a senior at Williams College studying Economics and Comparative Literature. An inaugural Global Scholar, she also spent a year at Oxford through the Williams-Exeter Programme. At Williams, she led the Williams Record’s opinions section and has interned at The Washington Post. As a Schwarzman Scholar, she hopes to deepen her understanding of the U.S.-India-China dynamic and foster more informed conversations on China through opinion journalism and public discourse. She is an Indian-American raised in Singapore and Hong Kong.