University of Pennsylvania senior Patrick Beyrer and 2020 graduate Brook Jiang have been selected as 2021 Yenching Scholars, with full funding to pursue an interdisciplinary master’s degree in China studies at the Yenching Academy of Peking University, in Beijing.
Beyrer and Jiang are among the 117 scholars chosen from 37 countries to enroll in the one-year program in September. Six scholars affiliated with Penn have been chosen since the program’s inception in 2015.
Beyrer, from Rockville Centre, New York, is pursuing a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in East Asian languages and civilizations with a concentration in Chinese and a minor in science, technology, and society in the School of Arts & Sciences. At Penn, he has been involved in radiology research at the Perlman School of Medicine and was the vice president of mentorship for Penn Transfer Student Organization.
He has studied abroad in China twice through the Department of State's National Scholarship Initiative for Youth and Critical Language Scholarship programs, in addition to being selected as a two-time Foreign Languages and Area Studies fellow through the Department of Education.
Beyrer interned at an investigative research and risk advisory firm with a focus on East Asia. He is also a contributor to SupChina, a China-focused media, information, and business-services platform. He is engaged in U.S.-China collaborations at Georgetown and Stanford universities and with the Window to the World Foundation.
As a Yenching Scholar, Beyrer intends to study the legal dimensions of Chinese pharmaceutical exports to international markets. He plans a career centering around U.S.-China medical technology exchange.
Jiang, who is from Bridgewater, New Jersey, graduated in May. As a student in the Huntsman Program for International Studies and Business, Jiang earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies and a minor in French from the College of Arts and Sciences, and a bachelor’s degree in economics with a concentration in management and finance from the Wharton School.
At Penn, Jiang was president of the Penn Ivy Council and vice president of the Wharton Asia Exchange and helped organize Wharton’s 25th Organizational Behavior Research conference. Jiang’s senior thesis explored the differences in motivations between Chinese, Indian, and American entrepreneurs, examining the impact of cultural values on indigenous innovation. She has traveled to India, Japan, and China as a Wharton India Fellow and a Japan Foundation Kakehashi Project Scholar.
Currently Jiang is an analyst at Oak Hill Advisors, where she evaluates investments in the infrastructure sector. As a Yenching Scholar, she plans to explore how entrepreneurs can collaborate with policymakers to build sustainable infrastructure solutions.
Beyrer and Jiang applied to the Yenching Academy with assistance from Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships..
