Ashni Patel named a Schwarzman Scholar

As a nexus for study and instruction in global languages, the Franklin College connects UGA students with broad opportunities – and qualifies an elite few for the most prestigious scholarships available to American college students. In another outstanding moment in a string of successive achievements, Ashni Patel became the eighth UGA student to receive the Schwarzman Scholarship and will join students from around the world pursuing a one-year master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, next fall:

Schwarzman Scholars are taught by leading international faculty and study a core curriculum focused on leadership, global affairs and China, learning to navigate the complexities of an evolving global landscape. Patel plans to continue her undergraduate focus on connecting people, strengthening communities and protecting the vulnerable through advocacy, diplomacy and policymaking.

The 150 scholars in the incoming Schwarzman Class of 2025 were selected from a pool of more than 4,000 applicants, with close to 400 candidates invited to interview. They represent 43 countries and 114 universities. Nine classes of Schwarzman Scholars have been named since the highly competitive program opened to applicants in 2015.

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Patel, a senior from Douglas in the Morehead Honors College, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from the School of Public and International Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Terry College of Business. She also will earn a minor in Chinese language and literature from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

As a Schwarzman Scholar, Patel will examine China’s approach to diplomacy and development in the Indo-Pacific and Africa. She wants to understand how the United States and China can work as partners in conflict mediation and stabilization. She then plans to pursue a career as a U.S. Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State.

Following this year's Rhodes Scholar, who took a similar though completely different language path to that illustrious scholarship, Patel's Schwarzman Scholarship puts an exclamation point on the diversity of language offerings in Franklin College departments that together, provide the foundation for the highest-achieving students to reach even higher. Congratulations to Patel, and to the faculty in the department of Comparative Literature and Intercultural Studies that supported her work.

Image: Ashni Patel at the U.S. Department of State during her time studying in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA)