MIT student Sunshine Jiang ’25 and Rupert Li ’24 are the recipients of this year’s Knight-Hennessy Scholarship. Now in its ninth year, this highly competitive scholarship provides financial support for graduate study at Stanford University for up to three years.
Sunlit Jiang ’25
Sunshine Jiang of Hangzhou, China, graduated from MIT in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree with a double major in physics and electrical engineering and computer science, as well as minors in mathematics and economics. He will graduate this month with a master’s degree in engineering and will begin doctoral studies in computer science at the Stanford School of Engineering in the fall.
Jiang is engaged in artificial intelligence and robotics research, developing productive and adaptive data-efficient systems for general-purpose robots that augment accessibility. She has presented her research at major conferences, including the Conference on Robotic Learning, the International Conference on Robotics and Automation, and the International Conference on Learning Representations.
Jiang led the development of AI-powered systems that provide access to customary Chinese arts in rural classrooms, founded cross-country programs that expand girls’ access to STEM education, and created a Covid-19 document amplifying community voices that was featured on China Daily.
Rupert Lee ’24
Rupert Li of Portland, Oregon, is currently pursuing a PhD in mathematics at the 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. In addition to his bachelor’s degree, he also earned a master’s degree in data analytics. Li then traveled to the UK as a Marshall Scholar, where he obtained a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge.
Li’s research interests include probability, discrete geometry, and combinatorics. He enjoys serving as a mentor for MIT PRIMES-USA, the high school mathematics research program, and was previously an advisor for Duluth REU, the undergraduate mathematics research program. In addition to the Knight-Hennessy and Marshall Scholarships, he received the Hertz Fellowship, the PD Soros Fellowship and the Goldwater Scholarship, and received the distinction of receiving the Frank and Brennie Morgan Award.