Five Princetonians win Schwarzman Scholarships
Princeton Class of 2026 members Margaret Miao and Alex Tseng and recent alumni Gustavo Blanco-Quiroga, Kalena Blake and Alison Lee have been named Schwarzman Scholars and will attend a one-year, fully funded master’s degree program in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
This year’s Princeton winners are among 150 incoming Schwarzman Scholars representing 40 countries and 83 universities. Since the graduate fellowship was established in 2013, “Schwarzman Scholars alumni have demonstrated immense leadership capacity, trailblazing in a number of industries and collaborating to tackle pressing issues all around the world,” according to the scholarship announcement.
The Schwarzman Scholar Class of 2026-27 was selected from a pool of more than 5,800 candidates worldwide. The scholars begin their studies in August.
Gustavo Blanco-Quiroga
Blanco-Quiroga, from Oruro, Bolivia, and of Indigenous Aymara roots, graduated from Princeton in 2025 with a degree in sociology and certificates in entrepreneurship and Latin American studies. His research focuses on the role Indigenous communities play in shaping environmental policy and development.
He said the Schwarzman Scholarship will build a foundation for a career in environmental law and public office in Bolivia, adding that he hopes to learn more about China’s socio-environmental impact in South American countries. “The Schwarzman Scholarship is the bridge I need: immersion in China, access to leading scholars, and a global cohort committed to governance innovation,” Blanco-Quiroga wrote in his application essay.
He received Princeton’s Henry Richardson Labouisse 1926 Prize to support his current leadership as co-founder of the Uru-Uru Team, which works to restore Lake Uru Uru from mining and plastic contamination by applying Indigenous knowledge. He is also a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.
While at Princeton, Blanco-Quiroga served as co-president of the Natives at Princeton student organization and as a class senator for the Undergraduate Student Government. He also served as a PIIRS undergraduate fellow, community living adviser, Emma Bloomberg Center student ambassador, Fields Center fellow and Rose Castle Society member. He was awarded a Davis Projects for Peace grant.
His experience includes internships at the World Wildlife Fund and at Helion SPS in Paris.
Kalena Blake
Blake, who lives in Washington, D.C., graduated from Princeton in 2024 with a degree in public and international affairs.
She is currently a research assistant at the Center for a New American Security and previously was a strategy analyst for the government and public services practice at Deloitte.
Blake said the Schwarzman Scholarship will be an important experience as she continues to pursue a career in public service and policymaking. The scholarship will be “essential for understanding how global challenges can be addressed collaboratively” and will deepen her ability to “navigate complex geopolitical challenges, not only as a policymaker, but as someone committed to elevating overlooked perspectives and bridging the distances between lived experience and public policy,” she wrote in her application essay.
At Princeton, Blake was managing editor of the Daily Princetonian and previously served as associate news editor, assistant news editor and a staff writer. She was also a four-year member and captain of the national championship-winning women’s lightweight rowing team.
In addition, she was a High Meadows fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund and worked as a summer intern in the office of U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
Alison Lee
Lee, of Far Hills, New Jersey, graduated from Princeton in 2024 with a degree in computer science and minors in entrepreneurship and in technology and society.
She said the Schwarzman Scholarship will be “pivotal” to her efforts to foster and empower female entrepreneurship and will help expand her work to a global scale. She particularly hopes to learn more about “what conditions in China allow for female entrepreneurs to thrive,” Lee wrote in her application essay.
While at Princeton, Lee established the undergraduate conference FemaleFounded to support and connect female entrepreneurs around the world and was recognized for her work on campus by the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. She also served as president of Business Today and as director of HackPrinceton.
In addition, Lee was captain of the varsity women’s fencing team and a residential college adviser in Butler College.
Lee currently works as an associate consultant at Boston Consulting Group. While an undergraduate, she was a business analyst intern at Capital One and helped manage a session of the Princeton eLab Summer Accelerator program, among other experience.
Margaret Miao
Miao is a mechanical and aerospace engineering major from Miami. She is also pursuing minors in bioengineering and in materials science and engineering.
She hopes to use the Schwarzman Scholarship to support her research and career interests in biotechnology, specifically on accelerating transnational medicine and technology while extending healthcare access to rural communities.
“By bridging policy and technology, I aim to learn how to improve equitable healthcare in China and expand these approaches to the United States,” Miao wrote in her application essay.
Miao is a 2025 TIME initiative fellow at the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research. On campus, she is an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Daniel Cohen, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute, and she has contributed to published research. Her other experience includes a summer as an undergraduate researcher at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, an internship at the clean energy company PolyGone Systems and a position with the education nonprofit igniteSTEM.
Miao is co-founder and director of the student-organized Princeton Biotechnology Group and co-founder of the Princeton Pitch Committee, a competition fostering and highlighting Princeton’s student-led startups.
In addition, she is a marketing intern for the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, a violinist with the Princeton University Orchestra and a member of Forbes College.
Alex Tseng
Tseng is an electrical and computer engineering major from Denver. He is also pursuing minors in computer science and sustainable energy. He is a two-time recipient of Princeton’s Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi honor societies.
In his application essay, Tseng said the Schwarzman Scholarship will support his goal of “continuing to lead innovation and change for a more affordable, accessible and clean electricity system.”
Tseng is the founder and president of WattOur, an early-stage company providing intelligent electrical grid services, and he has contributed to published research on machine learning and optimization for energy grid control. He has also worked on sustainable and intelligent energy solutions in the U.S. and abroad, including experience at Resilient Transition energy consultants in San Francisco, PHAETHON Center of Excellence in Cyprus and Solenium Co. in Colombia.
On campus, Tseng is on the boards of Orange Key and the student organization Princeton University Energy Association. He serves as co-president of the Princeton Woodcarving Club and is a member of Yeh College and the club tennis team. He previously participated in Engineers Without Borders.
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