Two Alumni, One Senior Receive Scholarship for Graduate Study at Stanford

DURHAM, NC — Two Duke University alumni and one graduating senior
have been awarded the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship for graduate study at
Stanford University. Maya Sheth, class of 2020, Anjali Gupta, class of 2022,
and Duke University senior Sydney Hunt, class of 2023 have each received up
to three years of financial support at Stanford. Sheth, Gupta, and Hunt are
members of the sixth Knight-Hennessy cohort and are among the ten Duke
students who have received the scholarship since the program welcomed its
first class in 2018.

Maya Sheth, from Cincinnati, Ohio, is pursuing a Ph.D. in Bioengineering at
Stanford where she is modeling mechanisms of enhancer-gene regulation. She
graduated summa cum laude from Duke with Distinction in 2020 with a
bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering where she was selected for the
Howard G. Clark Award for excellence in undergraduate research. While at
Duke, Sheth was the President of Duke Conservation Tech, a student
organization that developed and implemented technology-driven projects to
address resource scarcity and environmental degradation. She also conducted
research with the Duke Comparative Oncology Group, taking an ecological
and evolutionary approach to cancer research.

Anjali Gupta, from Cary, North Carolina, will use the scholarship to pursue a
medical degree at the Stanford School of Medicine. Gupta, who was a
Robertson Scholar at Duke, graduated summa cum laude with Highest
Distinction in 2022 under Program II, studying The Interplay Between Health
and Educational Outcomes. As a 2022-2023 Hart Fellow, she partnered with
the University of The Gambia School of Medicine to research issues of
healthcare access and cancer epidemiology. At Duke, Gupta was President of
Duke Partnership for Service. She also conducted health disparities research
in the Department of Population Health Sciences, interned with the Freedom
School program in rural North Carolina, and worked on family-school
engagement initiatives at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal
Education.

Sydney Hunt, from Cornwall, New York, is the second graduating senior from
Duke and the second Reginaldo Howard Memorial Scholar to be awarded the
Knight-Hennessy Scholarship. She will pursue a Ph.D. in Electrical
Engineering at Stanford after graduating with bachelor’s degrees in Electrical
and Computer Engineering and Computer Science and a minor in Gender,
Sexuality, and Feminist Studies. At Duke, she co-founded the nonprofit CS
Sidekicks, Duke S.P.I.R.E. Fellows Living Learning Community, and Duke
Technology Scholars Academic Support Team. Sydney also co-hosted the
“This Engineering Life” podcast series, established the annual “Don’t Waste
Food Points” food drive, and was selected as the Undergraduate Young
Trustee.

The Knight-Hennessy scholarship was founded in 2016 by Nike founder Phil
Knight and John Hennessy, who served as Stanford University’s president
from 2000 – 2016. The scholarship was created to educate and prepare a
community of scholars for leadership roles in academia, industry,
government, nonprofits, and the community at large.

Duke students and alumni can receive support for opportunities like the
Knight-Hennessy Scholarship from the Nationally Competitive Scholarships
team at the Office of University Scholars and Fellows.

For more information, visit the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship website.