MIT master’s student Sunshine Jiang ’25 and Rupert Li ’24 are recipients of this yr’s Knight-Hennessy Scholarship. Now in its ninth yr, the highly competitive scholarship provides up to a few years of monetary support for graduate studies at Stanford University.
Sunshine Jiang ’25
Sunshine Jiang, from Hangzhou, China, graduated from MIT in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree as a double major in physics and electrical engineering and computer science, together with minors in mathematics and economics. She is going to receive her master of engineering degree this month and can start her PhD in computer science at Stanford School of Engineering this fall.
Jiang researches embodied artificial intelligence and robotics, developing data-efficient, adaptive systems for general-purpose robots that broaden accessibility. She has presented her research at major conferences, including the Conference on Robot Learning, the International Conference on Robotics and Automation, and the International Conference on Learning Representations.
Jiang led the event of AI-powered systems that provide access to traditional Chinese art in rural classrooms, founded cross-country programs that expand girls’ access to STEM education, and created a Covid-19 documentary amplifying community voices, which was featured on China Every day.
Rupert Li ’24
Rupert Li, from Portland, Oregon, is currently pursuing a PhD in mathematics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. He graduated from MIT in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree, double majoring in mathematics and computer science, economics, and data science. Along along with his bachelor’s degree, he also received a master’s degree in data science. Li then traveled to the UK as a Marshall Scholar, where he earned a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge.
Li’s research interests lie in probability, discrete geometry, and combinatorics. He enjoys serving as a mentor for MIT PRIMES-USA, a highschool math research program, and previously served as an advisor for the Duluth REU, an undergraduate math research program. Along with the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship, he has been awarded the Hertz Fellowship, P.D. Soros Fellowship, and the Goldwater Scholarship, and he received honorable mention for the Frank and Brennie Morgan Prize.