Burchard Scholars Spotlight

Page Contents:01.About02.Recent Burchards03.Recent Speakers

Discussions over dinner pair extraordinary scholars and students

The Burchard Scholars Program brings together distinguished members of the faculty and promising MIT sophomores and juniors who have demonstrated excellence in some aspect of the humanities, arts, or social sciences.

Around 35 MIT undergraduates are selected each year for the competitive program. All students chosen for the program have demonstrated excellence and engagement in the humanistic fields, but can be majoring in science, design, and engineering fields as well as in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.

A high percentage of the MIT students who receive Rhodes, Marshall, and other major scholarships and fellowships are former Burchards.

 

Recent Burchard Scholars

Congratulations to our 2024 cohort of Burchard Scholars!

  • Julia Camacho, junior, urban studies and planning

  • Zev Moore, sophomore, management

  • James Rock, sophomore, political science

  • Sashko Horokh, junior, mathematics

  • Margaret Wang, junior, mathematics

  • Grace Zhang, junior, mathematics

  • Mustafa Al-Obaidi, junior, mechanical engineering

  • Isabella Gandara, junior, biological engineering

  • Graham Guite, sophomore, biological engineering

  • Leena Mehendale, sophomore, biological engineering

  • Katie Spivakovsky, sophomore, biological engineering

  • Kaelyn Dunnell, junior, literature

  • Kelly Kim,, sophomore, literature

  • Alice Le, junior, writing

  • Ariel McGee, sophomore, writing

  • Kaitlyn Yanna, junior, nuclear science and engineering

  • Miguel Buitrago, sophomore, philosophy

  • Mishael Quraishi, junior, materials science and engineering

  • Syd Robinson, junior, materials science and engineering

  • Effaima Longe, junior, chemistry

  • Rumi Lee, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Emily Kang, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Esther Kinyanjui, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Tarang Lunawat, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Janka Hamori, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Vivian Hir, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Franklin Nguyen, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Mohamed Suufi, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Renee Ge, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Janvi Huria, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Ashley Williams, junior, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Elizabeth Zhang, sophomore, electrical engineering and computer science

  • Alex Tang, sophomore, biology

  • Saul Balcarcel-Salazar, junior, physics

  • Felicia Xiao, junior, physics

We had thought-provoking talks over the course of the year…Attaining a level of knowledge in fields like art, history, and literature is an essential part of our education, as it broadens our perspective and helps us make more sense of things like cultural phenomena and political issues.”
Willow Huang ’25
Biological engineering major

Speakers and faculty fellows

Burchard speakers and faculty fellows lead talks that cross academic disciplines. Drawing on the school’s vast fields of expertise, the seminars offer diverse avenues of exploration for ambitious scholars.

Students don’t simply listen to these speakers, they engage with them. During dinners, faculty and students share ideas and sit beside one another.

Here’s a taste of some recent talks:

  • “Sovereign Knowledge: A Journey From Science to Religion and Back Again,” Eli Nelson.
  • “Inference on Winners,” Isaiah Smith Andrews.
  • “Artificial Intelligence and Governments: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” Martin Beraja.

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