From advancing conversations on the future of the Arctic to reimagining how design and grassroots advocacy can shape more sustainable communities, South Asian members of Harvard’s Class of 2026 are bringing bold ideas and global perspectives. As they graduate and begin the next chapter of their journeys, these students carry with them a commitment to scholarship, innovation, and meaningful impact. While this selection of profiles is far from comprehensive, these profiles offer a glimpse into the many ways Harvard students are preparing to engage with and contribute to the world. Congratulations to the Harvard University Class of 2026!
PROFILES OF SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY GRADUATES
Four Harvard College Students Named Gates Cambridge Scholars
Mukta Dharmapurikar (Economics & Environmental Science and Engineering)
Dharmapurikar’s research interests are driven by her childhood in North Carolina and visits to her family’s farm in India, where she experienced how climate change-driven weather events like droughts and hurricanes can affect communities (source: Harvard College).
On the Frontlines of Conservation: Bhuvan Ravindran MPP 2026 on Why the Arctic Matters
Bhuvan Ravindran (Harvard Kennedy School)
As a child growing up in New Delhi, India, he rallied support for the Save Our Tigers campaign after learning deforestation and poaching threatened tiger populations. Now, at HKS, Ravindran traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland as a research assistant for the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Arctic Initiative, to participate in the 2025 Arctic Circle Assembly (source: Harvard Kennedy School).
Studying How Black Media Shaped the Great Migration
Avinash Moorthy (Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
Moorthy is a graduating PhD student in Public Policy at the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. An economist by training, his research sits at the intersection of history, information, and inequality. He reflects on his childhood in Toronto, his parents’ journey from India to North America, and his quest to understand how Black newspapers like the Chicago Defender enabled one of the largest mass migrations in American history (source: Harvard GSAS).
On the Data Science Mater’s Degree Program at Harvard Extension School
Jyoti Vasudev (Harvard Extension School)
Vasudev, a software engineer for Microsoft, explains how she chose her Master’s degree program, and how her experience at Harvard helped shape her career (source: Harvard Extension School).
Thesis Investigates AI-Image Bias
Gauri Sood (Psychology and Government)
With artificial intelligence quickly becoming ingrained in everyday life, Psychology and Government double-concentrator Gauri Sood is skeptical about non-human technologies mimicking human experiences without bias (source: Harvard College).
Savalee Tikle Wins Paul Katz Fellowship for Research in London
Savalee Tikle (Harvard Graduate School of Design)
An architect and urban research practitioner from Mumbai, Savalee Tikle is graduating from the GSD with a master of architecture in urban design, working at the intersection of sustainable design and data-driven community advocacy. Following graduation, Tikle will pursue independent research on transit and urban equity in London through the Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)–administered fellowship (source: Harvard Graduate School of Design).
‘Where Hearts and Minds Meet’: Sabbi Lall, MDiv ’26, on Her Call to Chaplaincy
Sabbi Lall (Harvard Divinity School)
Through study of Buddhist and Hindu texts, mentorships with faculty, and affirming ministry experiences, Sabbi Lall’s call to chaplaincy was answered at Harvard Divinity School (source: Harvard Divinity School).
☆ The views represented herein are those of the subjects and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mittal Institute, its staff, or its steering committee.