Three talented students from MIT—Yutao Gong, Brandon Man, and Andrii Zahorodnii—have been awarded the prestigious 2025 Schwarzman Scholarships. This achievement will allow them to join the program’s 10th cohort, where they will pursue a master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
This year, the Schwarzman Scholars program saw an impressive number of applicants, with over 5,000 individuals vying for 150 scholarship slots. The selected scholars represent 38 nations and attended 105 universities across the globe, showcasing incredible diversity and talent.
The primary objective of the Schwarzman Scholars program is to cultivate leadership skills while enhancing understanding of China’s evolving role on the world stage. This fully funded, one-year master’s program focuses on leadership, global affairs, and Chinese culture. Scholars benefit from immersive experiences in China, including personalized mentoring, internships, and hands-on learning opportunities.
At MIT, students vying for the Schwarzman Scholarship receive invaluable support from the distinguished fellowships team in Career Advising and Professional Development, along with guidance from the Presidential Committee on Distinguished Fellowships.
Yutao Gong is set to graduate this spring from the Leaders for Global Operations program at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she is earning a dual MBA and a Master of Science in civil and environmental engineering with a specialization in manufacturing and operations. Originally from Shanghai, China, Yutao brings a wealth of academic, professional, and social experience from China, the United States, Jordan, and Denmark. Previously, she worked as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group, focusing on projects related to manufacturing, agriculture, sustainability, and renewable energy. Additionally, Yutao has served as a global ambassador, spending two years in Chicago and one year in Greater China. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University, where she organized the Duke China-U.S. Summit and majored in environmental science and statistics.
Brandon Man, who has roots in both Canada and Hong Kong, is currently pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at MIT. His research focuses on generative artificial intelligence (genAI) for engineering design. Prior to MIT, he graduated magna cum laude with honors in computer science from Cornell University. With extensive experience in robotics, ranging from assistive technologies to NASA’s next-generation spacesuits and Tencent’s robot dog, Max, Brandon is also a co-founder of Sequestor, a genAI-powered data aggregation platform designed to enhance due diligence for carbon credit investors. His ambition lies in bridging the best practices of the Eastern and Western technology sectors.
Andrii Zahorodnii hails from Ukraine and will graduate this spring with both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Engineering in computer science and cognitive sciences. With expertise as an engineer and a neuroscientist, he has conducted significant research at MIT alongside Professor Guangyu Robert Yang’s MetaConscious Group and the Fiete Lab. Andrii is deeply passionate about leveraging AI to gain insights into human cognition, which can lead to more informed, empathetic, and effective global policymaking. A TEDxMIT organizer, he is also dedicated to nurturing and inspiring future leaders through the Ukraine Leadership and Technology Academy that he founded.
Photo credit & article inspired by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
