World’s Brightest Business, Computer Science, Bioengineering, and Energy Science Students Join Distinguished Leaders, Growing Community to over 1,200

World’s Brightest Business, Computer Science, Bioengineering, and Energy Science Students Join Distinguished Leaders, Growing Community to over 1,200

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—September 6, 2017— The Siebel Scholars Foundation
announced the recipients of the annual Siebel Scholars award. The Siebel Scholars program
recognizes exceptional students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer
science, energy science, and bioengineering.

With the Class of 2018, the field of computer science was expanded to include the University of Chicago, one of the premier educational institutions.

The 95 distinguished students of the Class of 2018 join past Siebel Scholars classes to form an unmatched professional and personal network of more than 1,200 entrepreneurs, researchers, and philanthropists. Through the program, this formidable group brings together their diverse perspectives from business, science, and engineering to influence the technologies, policies, and economic and social decisions that shape the future.

“The Siebel Scholars class of 2018 represents the best and brightest from around the world,” said Thomas M. Siebel, Chairman of the Siebel Scholars Foundation. “It is my great pleasure to welcome them into this ever-growing, lifelong community.”

The Siebel Scholars program was established by the Siebel Foundation in 2000 through grants to 16 universities in the United States, China, France, Italy, and Japan. Each year, top graduate students from 27 partner programs are honored as Siebel Scholars and receive a $35,000 award
for their final year of studies.

Siebel Scholars are chosen by the deans of their respective schools on the basis of outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated leadership. On average, Siebel Scholars rank in the top 5% of their class, many within the top 1%. This year’s honorees are:

Graduate Schools of Computer Science

Carnegie Mellon University, School of Computer Science:
Danish Pruthi, Jeffrey Helt, Karan Goel, Kirthevasan “Samy” Kandasamy, Nika Haghtalab

Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences:
Jean Pouget-Abadie, Andrew “Andy” Miller, Hongyao Ma, Brandon Reagen, Samuel “Sam” Wiseman

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering:
Eric Bersin, S. Mazdak “Mazy” Abulnaga, Gladynel Saavedra Peña, Yu Wang, Neerja Aggarwal

Princeton University, School of Engineering and Applied Science:
Jonathan Balkind, Jieming Mao, Amy Tai, Claudia Roberts, Ryan Beckett

Stanford University, School of Engineering:
Mila Schultz, Howard Small Jr., Crystal Tjoa, Borui Wang, Catherine “Cathy” Wong

Tsinghua University, School of Information Science and Technology: 
Jiacheng Zhang, Qiao Qian, Han Zhang, Chenming Wu, Kaiwei Li

University of California, Berkeley, College of Engineering:
Michael Zhang, YuXuan “Andrew” Liu

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Engineering:
Milica Hadzi-Tanovic, Sujay Khandekar, Jayasi Mehar, Unnat Jain, Jacob “Jake” Bailey

University of Chicago, School of Computer Science:
Hannes Koenig, Joan Wang, Leping “Tommy” Yu

Graduate Schools of Energy Science

Carnegie Mellon University, School of Computer Science:
Sean Weerakkody

École Polytechnique, Graduate School:
Arthur Marronnier

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering:
Marco Miotti

Politecnico di Torino, Doctoral School:
Gianluca Serale

Princeton University, School of Engineering and Applied Science:
Ross Kerner

Stanford University, School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences:
William Gent

Tsinghua University, Laboratory for Low Carbon Energy:
Zhifang Yang

University of California, Berkeley, College of Engineering:
Ming Jin

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Engineering:
Varun Badrinath Krishna

The University of Tokyo, School of Engineering:
Kasidit “Champ” Toprasertpong

Graduate Schools of Bioengineering

Johns Hopkins University, Whiting School of Engineering and School of Medicine:
Sarah Friedrich, Alyssa Kosmides, Daniel Lewis, Worawan “Boombim” Limpitikul, Randall Meyer

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering:
Reginald Avery, Santiago Correa-Echavarria, Jaideep Dudani, Deena Rennerfeldt, Tahoura Samad

Stanford University, School of Engineering and School of Medicine:
Benjamin Kotopka, Sung Jin Park, Wen Torng, Steven Leung, Maya Nagasawa

University of California, Berkeley, College of Engineering:
Elisabet Rosàs-Canyelles, Jasmine Hughes, Olivia Scheideler, Zhi Wei Tay, Tammy Hsu

University of California, San Diego, Institute of Engineering in Medicine and Jacobs School of Engineering:
Michael Gibbons, Xuanyi “Michelle” Ma, Tri Nguyen, Troy Sandberg, Jessica Ungerleider

Graduate Schools of Business

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management:
Shuvo Banerjee, Avery Beach, Barry Brudny, Faye Cheng, Rohit Ramchandani

Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management:
Dr. Nadim Choudhury, Michael Duffy, John Ng, Annie Furr, Marci Engel

Stanford University, Graduate School of Business:
Animesh Agrawal, Charles Barrett, John “Jack” Marzulli III, Samanthe Tiver Belanger, Sarah Hinkfuss Zampardo

University of Chicago Booth School of Business:
Darrick Chan, Kathleen Davis, Monica Kalwani, Igor Shkilko, Yihan Tan

Today, more than 1,200 of the world’s brightest minds are Siebel Scholars. They lead a diverse range of ventures, including innovative startups, cutting-edge academic research, and philanthropic initiatives, which demonstrate promise for significant societal impact. Siebel Scholars have served on more than 340 boards and founded more than 150 companies, of which more than 56 have successfully gone public or were sold to enterprises, including Google, Intuit, Match.com, and Dropbox. They innovate across disciplines spanning more than a dozen industries, having launched more than 1,100 products, authored more than 370 patents, and manage more than $2.7 trillion in assets. As accomplished experts in their fields, Siebel Scholars have published nearly 40 books and more than 2,650 articles or book chapters. They have also given back to their communities by establishing 54 nonprofits and volunteering more than 19,000 hours each year, as of the most recent survey of Siebel Scholars.

About Siebel Scholars
The Siebel Scholars program was founded in 2000 by the Siebel Foundation to recognize the most talented students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, bioengineering, and energy science. These include: Carnegie Mellon University; École Polytechnique; Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Northwestern University; Politecnico di Torino; Princeton University; Stanford University; Tsinghua University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, San Diego; University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Pennsylvania; and University of Tokyo. Today, our active community of over 1,200 leaders serves as advisors to the Siebel Foundation and works collaboratively to find solutions to society’s most pressing problems. For more information about the Siebel Scholars program, please visit www.SiebelScholars.com.

About the Siebel Foundation
The Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation, a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, was established as a private foundation in 1996. Its mission is to foster programs and organizations that improve the quality of life, environment, and education of its community members. The Siebel Foundation funds projects to support the homeless and underprivileged, education and research, public health, and alternative energy solutions.

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Media Contact:
Moriah Scoble
Siebel Scholars Foundation
650-299-5216
mscoble@siebel.org