From exploring social inequalities to bridging medicine and science, Harvard’s Class of 2025 is filled with graduates pursuing bold, world-changing ideas. We’ve curated a selection of standout profiles featuring South Asian graduates from across Harvard’s schools. While not exhaustive, this list offers a glimpse into the diverse paths these students are taking. Congratulations to the Harvard University Class of 2025!
PROFILES OF SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY GRADUATES
Understanding the Persistence of Caste
Akshay Dixit (Harvard Kennedy School)
Akshay Dixit grew up in Bhopal, India, the son of a government official who shared with him the complexities of public service and policy. He says that thinking deeply about social questions was part of his upbringing. His research is now helping others understand why some social divisions are so difficult to undo (source: Harvard Kennedy School).
Harvard Medical School Students Receive Soros Fellowships
Sreekar Mantena and Jupneet Singh (Harvard Medical School)
Sreekar Mantena, an MD-Ph.D student and Jupneet Singh, an accepted MD student, have received 2025 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. They are among 30 graduate students to receive the merit-based award for immigrants and children of immigrants (source: Harvard Medical School).
Hope Podcast: Featuring Becca Leviss and Rucha Modi, MTS Candidates
Rucha Modi (Harvard Divinity School)
Second year MTS students Rucha Modi and Becca Leviss share the story of their early HDS friendship as a source for inspiration. Modi, a former Fulbright scholar in India, says her parents “immigrated from Gujarat, India … I think a lot of my early spiritual and religious formation was shaped through them” (source: Harvard Divinity School).
Rohini Dutta on the Value of the MPH for Clinicians
Rohini Dutta (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)
Rohini Dutta, an MPH student from India, says her program at HSPH has equipped her with essential skills in critical thinking and research methodology—tools she plans to carry forward into her next chapter, in an OB/GYN residency at Yale University (source: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health).
My Favorite Class at Harvard Sociol 1186: Refugees in Global Perspective
Samia Afrose (Harvard College, Computer Science and Sociology)
Samia Afrose reflects on her favorite undergraduate course, which explored the complex and urgent issue of forced migration, focusing on the challenges faced by refugees across the globe (source: Harvard College).