Kennedy Scholars 2013

Jasdeep Bains  23  

Special Student, Harvard GSAS

Jasdeep will be studying in Harvard’s theoretical physics group in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and welcomes the opportunity to also take courses from the Graduate School of Education.  After beginning his studies at Imperial College, he has recently completed an MSci in Theoretical Physics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Birmingham, where he was in receipt of an Ambassador Excellence Scholarship and also won a fully-funded research internship at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Hamburg.  Prior to leaving for Harvard Jasdeep will be on a DAAD scholarship in Berlin where he will work in the theoretical physics group led by a former collaborator of the late Nobel Prize-winning American, Richard Feynman.  Jasdeep looks forward to a career in theoretical physics but also maintains a very strong interest in politics. Having been an active educator for many years now, he is keen to investigate the creation of a national organisation aimed at inspiring children with the beauty of science.  Jasdeep also has a particular interest in the differences between UK and US educational systems and has already forged links with a school in Massachusetts. His own underprivileged education has spurred his interest in this area.   Aside from his academic pursuits, Jasdeep is a keen sportsman, practicing both basketball and “cage fighting”, or Mixed Martial Arts, and is looking forward to developing his skills in a country where both of these sports feature prominently.

Alexandra Batchelor  21

Harvard Neuroscience PhD

Alexandra has just completed a Natural Sciences degree at Clare College, Cambridge and will be starting the Neuroscience doctoral programme at Harvard.   She became interested in studying in the US after spending summer 2012 as Clare’s Watson Scholar at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, where she did research on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in decision-making.  The main appeal of an American PhD was the opportunity to spend a few months working in several different labs, exploring different areas of neuroscience and discovering an important thesis question.  Harvard was particularly appealing due to the large number of scientists working in Alex’s chosen specialism of systems neuroscience and investigating the neural basis of certain behaviours.  She’ll also enjoy collaborating with the many other neuroscience PhD students there.  At Cambridge, Alex has been involved in Clare Access, encouraging young people to apply to Cambridge regardless of their background and teaching sixth-formers university-level neuroscience.  She also sang in several productions and was an Associate Editor for The Science in Society Review.  She hopes to continue these activities at Harvard while gaining skills that will enable to run her own lab in the future.  

Isabel Boggild-Jones  23

Harvard GSAS Special Student

Having graduated in Philosophy, Politics & Economics, Izzy has spent the past two years teaching English and Politics in a south London secondary school with Teach First. Whilst at Oxford, she was involved in student journalism as a reporter and editor and hosted a radio show on student politics. A summer of media work placements convinced her that such indirect political involvement was not for her, and her particular interests in family policy and the study of educational disadvantage took her to Teach First. At Harvard, Izzy expects to further her study of education within the wider fields of social policy and feminist political theory and welcomes the breadth of opportunity provided to her as a Special Student.   She hopes to return to frontline involvement in British education policy.

Thomas Etheridge  24

Harvard Kennedy School MPP

Tom has worked at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs since graduating from Oxford three years ago.   His particular interest during his study of Philosophy, Politics & Economics was the forces that shape human decision-making.   He found all three disciplines of his degree transferred well into the Civil Service Fast Stream roles supporting the dairy industry, tackling food waste and, most recently, in a Minister’s office.   Finding his commitment to public service strengthened, Tom now wishes to take the Masters in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School to develop further the academic foundations he believes underpin sound public policy making.

Philippa Greer  24  

Harvard Law School LLM

From a family with no formal education, Philippa graduated from the University of Edinburgh Degree of Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours.  She then volunteered in the aftermath of civil war in Sri Lanka, before achieving exceptionally high marks in the Dip. PLP.   After spending several months assisting with the defense of clients on Death Row, she worked on a range of access to justice and advocacy issues as an intern at the Southern Center for Human Rights and the Legal Aid Society of New York. She now serves as Primary Editor of the Harvard Human Rights Journal, reviewing a broad spectrum of international and domestic human rights scholarship, whilst working in the legal profession in Scotland. Philippa has outstanding potential as someone who has the capacity to lead real world change. A recent graduate, she has been published numerous times in the Juridical Review, the Scots Law Times, the JLSS, the Amicus Journal and the International Bar Association: Young Lawyers, as well as having written law reform articles for the One for Ten Project, the Women’s Support Project and the Zero Tolerance Campaign. Prior to commencing at Harvard, Philippa will return to the South to assist with the work of the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama. 

Augustus Lonergan  22

MIT Mathematics PhD
 

Gus is particularly interested in the relatively new field of geometric representation theory; this area has already been used to solve previously intractable problems at the interface of representation theory and algebraic geometry. It has also provided deep insights into a range of topics from number theory to physics.   He enjoys the collaborative nature of current mathematical study and is looking forward to the broad teaching experience he will gain by taking his PhD in the US. He has spent two summers gaining research experience at the University of Virginia with Professor Leonard Scott, investigating the representation theory of affine lie algebras.  In addition, Gus is a keen rugby and squash player. He relaxes by playing the piano and guitar and through song-writing.

Emma McIlveen  22

Harvard GSAS Special Student

A law graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, Emma McIlveen will spend her year at Harvard as a Special Student.  Emma was brought up in a small village in Northern Ireland and was the first of her family to attend university. Throughout her law degree, she worked in a local solicitor’s firm and volunteered with the Woman’s Aid Domestic Violence helpline in Belfast. Upon completion of her law degree, Emma was awarded scholarships to enable her to complete legal internships in both Los Angeles and Beijing. During her time at Harvard, Emma welcomes the opportunity to develop her research skills whilst expanding her understanding of political and social theory alongside questions of justice and human rights. In the future, Emma hopes to apply for judicial office and challenge the current under-representation of women within the senior judiciary in Northern Ireland.

Oliver Newth  21

MIT M Eng High Performance Structures

Oliver enjoys the duality of function and form in structural engineering, with a particular interest in high-rise buildings and skyscrapers.   He will be studying a Master’s course in High Performance Structures at MIT having completed his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at Warwick.   He looks forward to the practical relevance of his chosen US course, particularly relating to research into construction materials and how findings from such research can lead to improved durability, ultimately saving lives in earthquake-prone environments.   Oliver has run his own website development and graphic design firm over the past five years.   Recently, he gained funding to develop a lecture resource management application, working with two computer scientists to produce the program over six weeks.   Oliver has also given significant time to teaching mathematics in Ghana through the Warwick in Africa programme over the past two years and has recently   spent four months working in Sierra Leone as a project engineer.   His exposure to the poor infrastructure in these countries will also inform his studies at MIT and his future as an engineer. 

James O'Donovan  24

Harvard GSAS Visiting Fellow

James is currently in the middle of his medical studies at Newcastle University and will spend this year furthering work started on his intercalated MRes in Aging & Health, with particular reference to dementia with Lewy bodies and its distinction from Alzheimer ’s disease.   James’s research has been published in peer-review journals and he was awarded a grant to present his work at the annual scientific meeting of the International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology.  At Harvard, James will work as part of Dr Brad Dickerson’s group.   He aims to take a PhD in the longer term and continue his collaborative links with the US.   Alongside his academic work, James has founded a non-profit organisation selling Ugandan goods in the UK, profits from which fund school fees and community projects.  This organisation, known as the Elimu project, will be developed further during his year as a Kennedy Scholar. He is also a keen athlete and looks forward to representing the university track and field team. 

Jennifer Quigley-Jones 22  

Harvard GSAS AM Regional Studies: Middle East

Jennifer read History and Politics at the University of Warwick and won the opportunity to study abroad for a year at the University of California, Los Angeles, during which she spent a term in Washington, DC. Whilst in Washington, she served as National Security Intern at the Center for American Progress, a think tank focusing on foreign, economic, and domestic policy. She has published in both international and student journals on Syria, Afghanistan, and Colombia, and presented her research at academic conferences. In 2008, she was the first woman to win the Institute for Economic Affairs' student essay competition, and in 2010, she served as Editorial Assistant for The Economist's "The World in 2010" magazine. At Harvard University, Jennifer will complete her Master's in Regional Studies with a Middle East concentration, offering the opportunity to perfect her Arabic and engage further with the cultural and political complexities of the region. Jennifer plans to work as an academic and policy adviser on political, economic and security issues in the Middle East and internationally.

Anna Stansbury  21 

Harvard Kennedy School MPP

Anna graduated top of her year in Economics at Cambridge University and will be taking the Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.  While at Cambridge, Anna was Director for Policy and Director for External Affairs for the Wilberforce Society, Cambridge University’s student think tank, and was instrumental in building this new society's profile in Westminster and nationwide.   With the Wilberforce Society, she wrote and published policy papers which attracted interest from MPs, peers and national and specialist media, including recommendations on tackling homelessness and a commissioned paper on corporation tax in Northern Ireland.  A competitive debater at school and university, Anna was Speakers Officer at the Cambridge Union, a member of the UK Youth Parliament, and founder of her school's Amnesty International youth group.   She captained the Cambridge University Ladies' target shooting team and St John's College University Challenge team.   In her spare time she is a keen musician and singer, and played oboe in the National Children's Orchestra. On the MPP, she plans to specialise in international trade and finance, with a view to a career in financial policy and socially-beneficial finance.