The Quad Nations Announce the First Cohort of Quad Fellows

The Quad Fellowship Supports 100 Exceptional STEM Master’s and Doctoral Students from the Quad Nations to Spur Scientific and Technological Innovation

WASHINGTON, D.C.; DECEMBER 9, 2022 — Today, the governments of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, alongside fellow founding corporate sponsors Accenture, Boeing, Blackstone, Google, Mastercard, and Western Digital, jointly announced the Quad Fellowship’s first cohort of 100 remarkable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate students from the Quad countries. The Quad Fellowship, operated and administered by Schmidt Futures, is a first-of-its-kind scholarship designed to spur scientific and technological innovation while building ties among and empowering the next generation of STEM leaders. 

The inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows is a diverse and interdisciplinary group of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians. This dynamic pool of gifted graduates studied at 69 undergraduate institutions across the four Quad countries, and more than fifty percent of Fellows identify as women or non-binary.  They are focusing on a broad spectrum of disciplines, including astronomy, biology, engineering, computer science, mathematics, oceanography, and many more. The cohort’s areas of specialization are diverse and impact-oriented, including sustainable energy grids, solid-state batteries, environmental protection and restoration, 5G and 6G telecommunications, bias-reducing artificial intelligence used in a variety of applications from healthcare imaging to origami-modeled robotics, molecular, chemical, and synthetic biology, hypersonics, quantum and optical computing, cryptography, and neuroimaging.  

Quad Fellows are committed to advancing innovation with a lens of positive social impact and collaboration in the private, public, and academic sectors in their nation and among the Quad countries. The Fellows will receive access to unparalleled benefits as part of a $10M financial commitment from a group of industry-leading corporate sponsors with track records of driving innovation and technological advancement. These benefits include funding, cross-cultural exchange through cohort-wide trips, mentorship, and participation in regular virtual and in-person workshops on various themes, including the intersection of STEM and society, ethics and innovation, and emerging technologies. 

This year’s class of Quad Fellows passed a rigorous selection process designed and operated by Schmidt Futures. Over 3,200 completed applications were submitted for consideration. These written applications were assessed for their academic excellence by renowned academics from across the Quad countries in applicants’ fields. Over 100 professors across 15 STEM disciplines from the Quad countries evaluated applications for their academic rigor and intellectual promise. Fewer than eight percent of applicants advanced to academic interviews conducted by experts in each discipline, which further assessed candidates’ curiosity and academic abilities. Fewer than five percent of all applicants advanced to the final-round panel interviews, conducted by C-suite executives, tenured professors, non-profit Executive Directors, government ministers and senior-level officials, and other senior leaders from the Quad countries. Panel interviews assessed finalists’ interest in the intersection of STEM and society, capacity to bridge differences, and an orientation toward results.

The inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows includes two Rhodes Scholars, a Schwarzman Scholar, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, a Barry Goldwater Scholar, a Commonwealth Scholar, a Knight-Hennessy Scholar, and a New Colombo Plan Scholar.

Alongside the four Quad countries, Accenture, Blackstone, Boeing, Google, Mastercard, Western Digital, and Schmidt Futures are excited to announce the following individuals as this year's cohort:

 The first cohort of  Quad Fellows will study in the United States beginning in August 2023. 

“Accenture is a passionate believer in the promise of human ingenuity and technology, and we’ve long been an active supporter of STEM and other academic pursuits to advance science and innovation and help shape the next generation of leaders,” said Paul Daugherty, group chief executive – Technology and chief technology officer at Accenture. “We congratulate the 100 fellows from Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. for their impressive achievements to date, and we look forward to seeing their many future contributions to the world in the years to come.”

“Blackstone is thrilled to support Schmidt Futures and the Quad Fellowship,” said Amy Stursberg, Chair of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation Board. “Their commitment to advancing innovation across all four Quad countries and a variety of disciplines while building ties across the next generation of STEM leaders is inspiring – we are confident this inaugural cohort of Fellows will drive positive social impact.”   

“A huge congratulations to this extraordinary inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows. You are the heart of our future and will be prepared to lead the Quad toward the innovations that will change the world,” said Naveed Hussain, Boeing’s Vice President and Chief Engineer for Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS). He added that it is a great honor and gives Boeing great satisfaction to be part of the Quad Fellowship program. 

"Google congratulates the first cohort of Quad Fellows and is proud to support excellence in STEM education and research among the Quad nations," said Karan Bhatia, Google's Vice President of Global Affairs. "Google also applauds the governments of the Quad nations whose foresight extends beyond simply providing resources for STEM research. By investing in the next generation of leading scientists and technologists, the governments of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States are strengthening the foundation of scientific collaboration among democracies."

“Today’s global challenges require new thinking and ways of working in service of sustainable and inclusive growth," said Michael Fraccaro, Chief People Officer at Mastercard. “What an exciting opportunity to support the scientists and technologists that make up this inaugural class."

“Western Digital is proud to support building the next generation of technologists through the Quad Fellowship,” said Christine Bastian, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Western Digital. “These students will have the opportunity to tackle problems of global importance with extraordinary solutions that creatively bridge STEM with social impact. We applaud this inaugural class and look forward to seeing them make a difference in our world for years to come.”

“It is my great privilege to join the four Quad leaders in welcoming our inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows,” said Tony Woods, Executive Director of the Quad Fellowship. “The work that our Fellows do during and after their time as Quad Fellows will lead to bold, new inventions and generational breakthroughs in STEM that will enrich the globe for generations to come. At the same time, our scholars will help to build deeper ties between our four nations and renew the power and possibility of collaborative democracy.”

An International Advisory Board composed of leaders from academia, government, business, and civil society has provided guidance on Quad Fellowship selection, programming, and immersion experiences. Members include Ambassador Richard Court, former Australian Ambassador to Japan; Ambassador Navtej Sarna, former Indian Ambassador to the United States; Ambassador Kazuyoshi Umemoto, president of The Japan Foundation; Secretary Ash Carter, former US Secretary of Defense (in memoriam); Professor Michelle Simmons, Director of the Center of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at the University of New South Wales; Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India; Professor Yoichiro Matsumoto, Science and Technology Advisor to Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Shirley Malcom, Senior Advisor and Director of SEA Change at the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Professor Carla Brodley, Dean of Inclusive Computing at Northeastern University; Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Executive – Technology and Chief Technology Officer at Accenture; Amy Stursberg, Board Chair, Blackstone Charitable Foundation and CEO of Schwarzman Scholars and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation; Naveed Hussain, Chief Engineer, Boeing Defense, Space & Security; Ambassador Karan Bhatia, Global Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google; Michael Fraccaro, Chief People Officer at Mastercard; and Christine Bastian, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Western Digital. Additional members of the International Advisory Board will be announced in the weeks and months ahead.

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About Accenture

Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Technology and Operations services and Accenture Song—all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 721,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at accenture.com.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $951 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Boeing

As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. As a top U.S. exporter, the company leverages the talents of a global supplier base to advance economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact. Boeing's diverse team is committed to innovating for the future and living the company's core values of safety, quality and integrity. Learn more at www.Boeing.com.

About Google

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Google Cloud, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.

About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.

About Western Digital

Western Digital is on a mission to unlock the potential of data by harnessing the possibility to use it. With Flash and HDD franchises, underpinned by advancements in memory technologies, we create breakthrough innovations and powerful data storage solutions that enable the world to actualize its aspirations. Core to our values, we recognize the urgency to combat climate change and have committed to ambitious carbon reduction goals approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Learn more about Western Digital and the Western Digital®, SanDisk® and WD® brands at www.westerndigital.com.

About Schmidt Futures:

Schmidt Futures bets early on exceptional people making the world better. Founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic initiative that brings talented people together in networks to prove out their ideas and solve hard problems in science and society. To learn more about our method and the diverse types of capital and tools that we deploy, visit www.schmidtfutures.com

Media Contacts: 

Janine Brady, Schmidt Futures, jbrady@schmidtfutures.com