News — The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation today announced 45 finalists for the 2024 Hertz Fellowships in applied science, mathematics and engineering.
Selected from more than 860 applicants and representing 27 universities, the finalists advance to a culminating round of interviews for one of the most competitive and coveted doctoral fellowships in the nation. The 2024 class of Hertz Fellows will be announced in May.
Since 1963, the Hertz Foundation has granted fellowships empowering the nation’s most promising young minds in science and technology. Hertz Fellows receive five years of funding, which offers flexibility from the traditional constraints of graduate training and the independence needed to pursue research that tackles some of the most pressing challenges facing our nation and the world.
The Hertz Fellowship experience continues beyond the initial award to include permanent membership in a multigenerational, intellectual community of peers that includes some of the nation’s most noted science and technology leaders. Fellows are able to deepen their experience through mentorship activities, events and professional development opportunities and networking. These opportunities have led Hertz Fellows to form research collaborations, commercialize technology, and create and invest in early-stage companies together.
"This year’s finalists embody the Hertz Foundation's mission of thinking bigger and pursuing goals that will have an outsize and enduring impact on behalf of the nation and the world," said Derek Haseltine, director of the Hertz Fellowship Program. "At this early stage of their career, each one of these individuals has already demonstrated high amounts of initiative and creativity in their work and the innovative mindset needed to solve complex problems."
The Hertz Foundation is committed to investing in future science and technology leaders who will fuel our nation’s security and economic vitality through life-changing innovations. Achieving these innovations requires bold ideas and relentless drive — qualities that are at the heart of Hertz Fellows. Through a highly rigorous selection process, led by Hertz Fellows Philip Welkhoff, director of the malaria program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Anna Bershteyn, associate professor of population health at New York University, the Hertz Fellowship selection committee seeks out exemplary candidates poised to continually think bigger and pursue goals that will have a transformational and lasting impact on our society.
Throughout the foundation’s 60-year history of awarding fellowships, more than 1280 Hertz Fellows have established a remarkable track record of accomplishments. Their ranks include two Nobel laureates; recipients of 11 Breakthrough Prizes and three MacArthur Foundation “genius awards”; and winners of the Turing Award, the Fields Medal, the National Medal of Technology, and the National Medal of Science. In addition, 53 are members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and 34 are fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Hertz Fellows hold over 3,000 patents, have founded more than 375 companies, and have created hundreds of thousands of science and technology jobs.
2024 Hertz Fellowship Finalists
Finalists are listed with their field of study and most recent university affiliation.
Jessica Alexander
Neurolinguistics
The University of Texas at Austin
Undergrad: Boston University
Emmy Blumenthal
Physics and Mathematics
Undergrad: Boston University
Virginia Canestraight
Chemical Engineering
Undergrad: California Institute of Technology
Andrea Cicirello
Materials Science and Engineering
Cornell University
Undergrad: Wichita State University
David Darrow
Applied Mathematics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Undergrad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Matthew Deitke
Computer Science and Engineering
University of Washington
Undergrad: University of Washington
Azim Dharani
Chemistry
Harvard University
Undergrad: Duke University
Maximilian Du
Computer Science and Engineering
Undergrad: Stanford University
Owen Dugan
Physics
Undergrad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kyle Fridberg
Applied Mathematics
Cornell University
Undergrad: Harvard University
Kaylie Hausknecht
Physics
Undergrad: Harvard University
David Hoyos
Quantitative Biology
Weill Cornell Medicine
Undergrad: Princeton University
Mika Jain
Computer Science
Stanford University
Undergrad: Stanford University
Jill Jones
Neuroscience
Harvard University-Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Undergrad: Duke University
Dana Kachman
Electrical Engineering
Undergrad: Johns Hopkins University
Helen Kang
Computational Genetics and Neuroscience
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Undergrad: University of California, Berkeley
Nivedita Kanrar
Quantitative Biology and Bioengineering
Princeton University
Undergrad: California Institute of Technology
Aayush Karan
Quantum Science and Engineering
Harvard University
Undergrad: Harvard University
Vassilios Kaxiras
Physics
Undergrad: Harvard University
Raphael Kay
Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering
Harvard University
Undergrad: University of Toronto
Calton Kong
Materials Science
Undergrad: University of California, Berkeley
Constance Kraay
Biophysics
Harvard University
Undergrad: Harvard University
Steven Labalme
Chemistry and Mathematics
Undergrad: University of Chicago
Andrew Laeuger
Physics
California Institute of Technology
Undergrad: Northwestern University
Andrew Langford
Astrodynamics
Purdue University
Undergrad: University of Notre Dame
Elijah Lew-Smith
Physics
Undergrad: Brown University
Rupert Li
Applied Mathematics
Undergrad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Amani Maina-Kilaas
Cognitive Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Undergrad: Harvey Mudd College
Zöe Marschner
Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
Undergrad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Benjamin McDonough
Physics and Mathematics
Undergrad: Yale University
Ryan Mei
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Undergrad: University of California, Berkeley
Casey Mogilevsky
Bioengineering
University of Pennsylvania
Undergrad: University of California, Berkeley
Zijian Niu
Quantitative Biology and Bioengineering
Undergrad: University of Pennsylvania
Robert Novak
Immunology
Harvard University
Undergrad: University of Pennsylvania
Noah Okada
Cognitive Neuroscience
California Institute of Technology
Undergrad: Emory University
Michael Ren
Mathematics
Cambridge University
Undergrad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
James Roney
Computational Biology
Undergrad: Harvard University
Anna Sappington
Computational Biology
Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Undergrad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nathaniel Selub
Physics
Undergrad: University of Chicago
Ivan Specht
Mathematics and Statistics
Undergrad: Harvard University
Meghan Sullivan
Chemistry
Harvard University
Undergrad: SUNY University at Buffalo
Alexander Uyttendaele
Applied Mathematics
Undergrad: University of Pennsylvania
Jason Yang
Genetics
Stanford University
Undergrad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
William Yik
Computer Science and Mathematics
Undergrad: Harvey Mudd College
Callie Zheng
Chemical and Biological Engineering
Undergrad: Princeton University
About the Hertz Foundation
Founded in 1957, the John and Fannie Hertz Foundation accelerates solutions to the world's most pressing challenges, from enhancing national security to improving human health. Through the Hertz Fellowship, the Foundation identifies the nation's most promising young innovators and disruptors in science and technology, empowering them to become the future leaders who keep our country safe and secure. Today, our community of 1,280 Hertz Fellows is a powerful, solution-oriented network of our nation's top scientific minds, working to address complex problems and contributing to the economic vitality of our country. More information can be found online at .
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