Zhang, Collins will do graduate study at Stanford University
A Duke alumna and a graduating senior have been awarded the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship for graduate study at Stanford University. Linda Zhang, class of 2020, and Duke University senior Daniel Collins, class of 2024, have each received up to three years of financial support at Stanford University.
Zhang and Collins are members of the seventh Knight-Hennessy cohort and are among the 12 Duke students who have received the scholarship since the program welcomed its first class in 2018.
Linda Zhang, from Tianjin, China, is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with highest distinction in public policy and received the Forever Duke Student Leadership Award and the Duke Cornerstone Award.
Zhang aspires to support innovative education systems globally. She helped launch new universities where she served as the chief of staff at Nigerian University of Technology and Management and advised on the launch of Duke Kunshan University in China. She also worked at the Ministry of Education in Sierra Leone, where she focused on international partnerships and data strategies to improve foundational literacy rates.
Zhang has worked with Siemens on apprenticeship programs and as a private teacher. She started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she served education clients across the United States, Middle East and Africa.
Danny Collins, from Newton, Massachusetts, is a Rachel Carson Scholar and a Bonaventura Research Scholar. He will pursue a PhD in oceans at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability after graduating with bachelor’s degrees in marine science and conservation and biology and a minor in visual and media studies.
His research on marine and synthetic biology has led to journal articles, conference presentations, and pending patents. Danny was a national finalist for the Collegiate Inventors Competition and a People’s Choice Award recipient for his work on NucleoTide, an ocean health monitoring system.
His passion for science communication led him to co-found TIDE Talks, a marine biology speaker series modeled after TED Talks. Collins was a high jumper on Duke’s track and field team and a Team IMPACT Fellow, matching Duke athletic teams with children with serious illnesses. He is interested in developing ecotechnologies to enhance ocean health.
The Knight-Hennessy scholarship was founded in 2016 by Nike founder Phil Knight and John Hennessy, who served as Stanford University’s president from 2000- 2016. The scholarship was created to educate and prepare a community of scholars for leadership roles in academia, industry, government, nonprofits and the community at large.
Duke students and alumni can receive support for opportunities like the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship from the Nationally Competitive Scholarships team at the Office of University Scholars and Fellows.
For more information on the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship, visit https://knight-hennessy.stanford.edu/
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