Two Cornellians have been selected to join the third class of Schwarzman Scholars, a program that sends young leaders from around the world to Beijing for a year of master’s degree study in public policy, economics and business, or international studies.

They are An-Chi “Angela” Dai ’15 and Kelly McClure ’16. From 4,000 applicants worldwide, 142 scholars were selected.

Eight Cornellians have been named Schwarzman scholars since the award program was instituted three years ago.

The Schwarzman program seeks to meet the challenges of the 21st century by creating a cohort of young leaders who will gain a deeper knowledge of China while pursuing their academic study. The award supports one year of master’s study at Tsinghua University in Beijing, at a campus specially built for the program. Instruction is in English from an international faculty including faculty at Tsinghua; all scholars also study Mandarin and participate in a core curriculum and a practicum.

Dai, who is from Taiwan, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in applied economics and management. During her time at Cornell, she spent a semester traveling across four continents and 12 countries with Semester at Sea. She now works at Hong Kong-based Blackrock, advising pension funds, insurance companies and other businesses across Asia. Her performance at the firm was awarded an Early Career Female Sponsorship in 2017. She is also opening a food and lifestyle marketplace that aims to create a platform for the local creative and arts community in her hometown of Taichung.

Through the Schwarzman Scholars program, Dai hopes to explore the entrepreneurship landscape in Beijing and further enhance her leadership skills to lead and manage her own businesses.

McClure earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations. After graduation, she served as a White House Generation Indigenous Fellow, where she worked to advance public policy causes among Native American youth. She later served as a lead legislative aide at the Florida House of Representatives, serving the greater Orlando area. Her role in co-authoring reproductive rights legislation as an aide earned her the 2017 Global 40 under 40 Family Planning Leader award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health.

She has previously served as an intern at the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations, the U.S. Senate’s committee on health, education, labor and pensions, and the government of India. As a Schwarzman scholar, she plans to pursue a concentration in public policy.