Profiles of Class of 2021 graduates

Class of 2021, Canada
Yenching Scholar at the Yenching Academy of Peking University

Ann Chen has been selected as a Yenching Scholar at Peking University and will enrol in the interdisciplinary Master of China Studies programme at the university. The programme annually accepts approximately 125 students each year from partner universities. Ann will be pursuing a thesis on policy interventions to encourage the adaption of sustainable finance in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) during her time at the university.

During her sophomore year at Yale-NUS College, Ann was awarded the Chinese Language Scholarship supported by the Tan Chin Tuan Chinese Culture & Civilisation Programme. The Scholarship enabled her to study Mandarin at Peking University, eventually contributing to her successful application to the Yenching programme.

Ann shared that the interdisciplinary approach – a core feature of a Yale-NUS education – enabled her to explore diverse interests and eventually zone in on a niche research interest. In particular, she is grateful for the ability to analyse problems through a broad lens within the field of global climate change governance. This enabled her to better understand complex issues posed by the looming climate crisis.

“I am very grateful to have benefited from several supportive faculty members over the course of my education at Yale-NUS. I owe a lot of my achievements to their many hours of mentorship and their dedication to help students like myself to think critically and apply lessons to real-world contexts.”

Class of 2021, Singapore
Analyst at Citibank

Matthias Goh is an analyst in the Global Markets division at Citibank. Matthias’ passion in Mathematical, Computational & Statistical Sciences (MCS) developed during his first two years at College when he took the Common Curriculum, a set of courses that introduces students to foundational concepts and modes of inquiry across the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

He discovered that he really enjoyed the process of crafting succinct arguments and discovering flaws in arguments, and found the MCS major was a way for him to further this academic interest by training him to apply abstract concepts of logic through mathematical and scientific media.

“Discrete Mathematics was my very first MCS module and I was rather apprehensive at the beginning because of what I have heard of MCS classes – being extremely demanding and time-consuming. However, I soon found myself enjoying the course so much that it kickstarted my curiosity in the major. I like how structured and challenging the course was and it was always rewarding upon completion of assignments because sometimes they seemed impossibly difficult at first sight.”

Class of 2021, Ethiopia
Pursuing a PhD at Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Kebron Kebede Gurara will be pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, under a Gruber Science Fellowship.

By following his passion in biochemistry, quantitative biology, biophysics and structural biology, Kebron hopes to tackle problems at the interface of biology and physics. Having majored in Physical Sciences and minored in Life Sciences at Yale-NUS College, Kebron believes that the opportunities he had in both topics have prepared him well for advanced research in two broad fields.

“The Physical Sciences community at Yale-NUS is very close-knit. The personal relationships I built with my professors and fellow students was the most valuable resource I had at the College; this gave me the mentorship and foresight I needed to make an informed decision to pursue a career in Science after graduation.”

Class of 2021, Austria
Pursuing a Master in Management at INSEAD

Maximilian Heidegger is pursuing a Master in Management at INSEAD. Upon graduating from Yale-NUS College, he studied for six months at the business school’s Europe campus in Fontainebleau, France, before returning to its Singapore campus in 2022. Upon completing his Master programme, Maximillian will be joining multinational conglomerate Jardine Matheson in Hong Kong as an executive trainee.

Maximilian credits his time at Yale-NUS College for “preparing [him] for graduate school in every aspect that [he] can imagine”. For instance, Yale-NUS’ pedagogical model, which focuses heavily on seminar and discussion-based classes, is very similar to that of the business school. Maximilian’s familiarity with seminar-style courses has helped him to quickly adapt to the curriculum at INSEAD.

“Internationally oriented business schools like INSEAD look for candidates who can thrive in multicultural and diverse academic and professional environments. Yale-NUS is one of the only colleges in the world that is able to offer such an experience early at the undergraduate level.”

Class of 2021, Poland
Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Uniphage

Chris Lis is a Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Uniphage, a biotechnology start-up which aims to eradicate bacterial diseases using the combined power of bacteriophages and artificial intelligence. He founded Uniphage with Sofia Sigal-Passeck (Class of 2021) during their junior year, and since then, they have developed state-of-the-art learning models and won multiple start-up competitions.

At Yale-NUS College, Chris studied Mathematical, Computational and Statistical Sciences, focusing on the intersection between computer science and artificial intelligence. This has equipped him with strong technical skills and knowledge, which he now applies at Uniphage to develop solutions to problems in biotechnology.

The international and multidisciplinary experience at Yale-NUS College has greatly contributed to Chris’ decision to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship as a career. During his junior year, he participated in the NUS Overseas Colleges Silicone Valley programme, which helped him develop his entrepreneurial skillset. As part of the programme, he also took graduate-level classes at Stanford University, and worked as a data scientist at Cuberg, a next-gen battery start-up located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“I think that Yale-NUS has the perfect environment for future entrepreneurs – the people you meet here, the diversity of their cultures and interests, and the multidisciplinary, out-of-the-classroom experiences allow you to see the world from many new angles and perspectives. I met the perfect co-founder here and discovered the most impactful problem we can solve together. I don’t think this would be possible anywhere else.”

Class of 2021, Singapore
Joining Goldman Sachs as an Analyst

Low Yi Ern will be joining Goldman Sachs as an analyst after graduating from Yale-NUS College.

While at Yale-NUS, Yi Ern had the opportunity to pursue her interest in Global Affairs while exploring other academic disciplines such as Psychology and Anthropology. She was also actively involved in the sports scene on campus and worked as a Student Associate for the Dean of Students (DOS) Office throughout her four years at Yale-NUS.

Yi Ern believes that the Yale-NUS interdisciplinary curriculum has exposed her to a broad range of perspectives and encouraged her to adopt a macro outlook on how concepts and ideas across disciplines are intertwined. This was helpful in enabling her to analyse complex, real-world problems in the workplace. The diverse interactions that she experienced at the College also allowed her to collaborate and communicate effectively with stakeholders of different backgrounds.

“The four years that I spent at Yale-NUS were a very formative time for me. It encouraged me to be curious and open-minded, independent in navigating through uncertainty, and provided me a safe space to try (and at times, fail) in new endeavours. I am optimistic that the friendships and community bonds that I formed at Yale-NUS will stay with me even after graduation.”

Class of 2021, Canada
Pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience at Stanford University

Lavonna Mark is pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience at Stanford University on the Stanford Graduate Fellowship. She started to be involved in research from her first-year at Yale-NUS College, and credits the College’s numerous research opportunities and fellowships for her academic development. Lavonna is grateful to Yale-NUS professors, who were exceptionally supportive and gave her many opportunities to take on independent research projects.

Lavonna’s main research, in the Cardin and Higley Labs at the Yale School of Medicine, investigated how arousal modifies neural dynamics in the mouse cortex — a brain area that processes sensory and cognitive information. She used techniques such as viral injections, widefield calcium imaging, visual behaviour, and computational analysis.

At Yale-NUS and during her exchange at Yale University, Lavonna was also able to take many courses to support her research interests, such as in programming, statistics, and computational biology.

Lavonna also enjoys being a science tutor and hopes to continue teaching in the future.

“Yale-NUS’ vibrant, close-knit intellectual community provided me an ideal environment for my academic goals. Almost all my courses were conducted within small classes, which provided me close interactions with professors who were highly invested in my learning. I deeply appreciate how Yale-NUS classes pushed me academically, while also providing the support and resources to achieve my goals.”

Class of 2021, Russia and Israel
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Uniphage

Sofia Sigal-Passeck is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Uniphage, a biotechnology start-up which aims to eradicate bacterial diseases using the combined power of bacteriophages and artificial intelligence.

She is grateful to the bonds that she formed with fellow students during her time at Yale-NUS College, that also enabled her to meet her co-founder, Chris Lis (Class of 2021) who majored in Computer Science.

Yale-NUS has helped Sofia to gain deep knowledge in Life Sciences and accorded her opportunities to learn beyond the classroom. In her junior years, Sofia started pursuing lab-based research and learned to think like a scientist by taking Life Sciences classes. This, in turn, inspired her to start a deeply technical, cutting-edge start-up when she was still a student.

“The absence of defined boundaries about what one “must” know as a Life Sciences major, beyond core requirements, allowed me to frame my own educational path and study highly specialised microbiology topics while gaining an appreciation of broader biological complexities.”

Class of 2021, Singapore
Recipient of the National Library Board (NLB) Scholarship

Winnie Tan is a recipient of the National Library Board (NLB) Scholarship and will be joining NLB to advance library and archives development.

While at Yale-NUS College, Winnie co-founded the Yale-NUS Fashion Society, where she collaborated with local industry experts and stakeholders. The College also supported Winnie’s interest in art and fashion by exposing her to various international experiences. She was invited to Berlin to partake in a fashion technology project and spent a semester in Paris studying strategic management in fashion.

Beyond fashion, Winnie was given the opportunity to participate in a grand strategy and leadership programme at Yale University and had the chance to pick up three languages during her time in the College.

Winnie believes that her diverse academic and pre-professional experiences at Yale-NUS have allowed her to see how different facets of art can intertwine with research, business, and innovation.

“I have gained invaluable tools from Yale-NUS’ liberal arts education, which will enable me to contribute to many sectors in an impactful way. Although I will be graduating into a less than ideal landscape, I am confident that Yale-NUS has equipped me with outstanding skills and tenacity. I am excited to apply these in my career.”  

Class of 2021, Singapore
Pursuing a Masters at Oxford University

Kevin Wong will be pursuing a Masters in Classics at Oxford University under an Ertegun Scholarship – a highly competitive scholarship with full funding awarded to 15 scholars each year for graduate study in the humanities at Oxford. He hopes to eventually pursue an academic career and carry out interdisciplinary literary research on classical literature, rhetoric, and contemporary mythological reception.

During his time at Yale-NUS College, Kevin was not just “encouraged to consider” alternative pathways to a legal career in the abstract sense. He found himself adequately prepared to actually follow through these alternative pathways. The College enabled him to receive rare exposure to the Classics and Kevin benefited from generous opportunities like the Summer Language Scholarship. He also met supportive professors whom he felt comfortable going to for advice about assignments, academia, publishing, and graduate school applications.

“I will always treasure the opportunity for a fully residential living experience with close friends, who have made an extremely demanding academic experience not just bearable, but enjoyable and memorable.”

Class of 2021, Singapore
Joining Enterprise Singapore as a Management Associate

Keith Yap graduated with a Yale-NUS Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Philosophy, Politics & Economics and a Master in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School). He will be joining Enterprise Singapore as a Management Associate after graduating.

Keith values his time at Yale-NUS College because it gave him the opportunity to explore the intersection of Philosophy, Politics and Economics and learn more about how “economic decisions ranging from education to monetary policies are often guided by different political philosophies and belief systems.” This, in turn, ignited his love for Economics and inspired him to specialise in the subject for his Masters.

The College also supported Keith’s academic interest in Classical Chinese Studies. Yale-NUS Professor of Humanities (Chinese Studies) Scott Cook taught him how to interpret literary Chinese text and enabled him to learn more about the Classical Chinese language. During this time, he also had the opportunity to go to the University of Virginia where he learned how Chinese perspectives applied to The Art of War from Visiting Lecturer of Global Commerce Mark Metcalf. 

Keith believes that the Concurrent Degree Programme with LKY School, which is offered by Yale-NUS, has equipped him with skills to look out for various perspectives and empathise with them.

“The ability to listen to various perspectives allows a policymaker to account for the diverse (and sometimes, competing) needs of a society before implementing a policy action. The programme has equipped me with skills to stand in the shoes of others while avoiding the trap of ‘strawmanning’ their positions.”