Congratulations to Stuy '17 Liam Elkind, named Rhodes Scholar!
Stuyvesant is proud of class of 2017 Valedictorian, Big Sib Chair, and now, founder of the non-profit Invisible Hands organization delivering groceries and more to homebound in NYC during COVID, and now .... names a prestigious Rhodes Scholar!
Four Yale seniors — three from the United States and one from Canada — have been selected as Rhodes Scholars, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious academic awards for graduate study. The scholarships provide all expenses for two to three years of study at Oxford University.
Liam Elkind of Jonathan Edwards College, Mary Orsak of Pierson College, and Shreeya Singh of Timothy Dwight College are among the 32 Americans chosen as Rhodes Scholars, and Kate Pundyk of Benjamin Franklin College is among the 11 Canadian recipients. The 43 American and Canadian recipients will join an international group of scholars chosen from more than 60 countries. Over 100 scholars will be selected worldwide.
Of the 32 Americans chosen as Rhodes scholars, 22 are female.
Rhodes Scholars are chosen for academic excellence, a commitment to making a positive difference in the world, their concern for the welfare of others, a consciousness of inequities, and for their promise of leadership. For the second year in a row, this year’s scholars were chosen in an entirely virtual process due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 2,300 students — each of whom was endorsed by their colleges or universities — applied for the highly competitive scholarships.
“They are inspiring young leaders already, and we are confident that their contributions to public welfare nationally and globally will expand exponentially over the course of their careers in varied sectors and disciplines,” Elliot F. Gerson, the American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said of the 32 American winners.
This year’s class of Canadian scholars “reflects the incredible diversity, prodigious talent, and deep humanity that Canada has to offer,” said Richard Pan, the Rhodes Trust’s Canadian secretary.
Liam Elkind of New York City is majoring in ethics, politics, and economics, as well as global affairs, at Yale. In his senior thesis, he is exploring models of campaign finance reform. He will continue to build on that work at Oxford, where he intends to earn a Master of Philosophy degree in politics (comparative government). At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Elkind co-founded Invisible Hands, a national nonprofit with more than 15,000 volunteers that delivers groceries and prescriptions to at-risk community members. Elkind, who now serves as the organization’s CEO, has received many awards and much national recognition for this work. He is also completing a novel and has been an actor and singer in many Yale theatrical and musical productions.
Read more here: https://news.yale.edu/2021/11/22/four-yale-seniors-are-named-rhodes-scholars
