The Luce Scholars Program represents a major effort by the Henry Luce Foundation to provide an awareness of Asia among potential leaders in American society. Launched in 1974, the Luce Scholars Program is aimed at a group of highly qualified young Americans in a variety of professional fields. It is unique among American-Asian exchanges in that it is intended for young leaders who have had limited experience of Asia and who might not otherwise have an opportunity in the normal course of their careers to come to know Asia. The Program provides stipends, language training and individualized professional placement in Asia for fifteen to eighteen young Americans each year.
View the Luce Scholars directory for a comprehensive list of recent scholars.
After a brief program hiatus during 2020-2022, the Luce Scholars Program has started taking applications again and no longer requires applicants to be nominated by their universities. But use our advising resources if you are planning to apply!
2020-21 UW Undergraduate Nominees:
Lucille Holmes-Anderson
Miranda Perry
Roshni Sinha
Lucille Holmes-Anderson, Nominee
Senior, International Studies
Lucille is a transfer student and senior at UW majoring in International Studies with a focus on International Human Rights. During her time at UW she received a 2020-2021 academic year Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship and was accepted into the Jackson School departmental honors program where she is currently working on a research thesis examining how narratives in news media contribute prejudice and discriminatory attitudes towards marginalized communities. In addition to pursuing her Bachelor’s, she also works as a corporate paralegal at Big Fish Games, primarily focusing on commercial contracts and privacy-related issues.
Lucille was homeschooled for her childhood and early adolescence before she started the Running Start program. She received her A.A. from Cascadia College, and upon graduating in 2014 she joined the AmeriCorps NCCC national service program where she served for a full year term and worked with a variety of organizations throughout the mid- and southwest United States. Her time in AmeriCorps reinforced her passion for public and community service that she had developed as a child, an interest which only continued to grow as she moved back to Seattle and started working in the games industry. She spent a significant amount of time working as a Developer Relations Manager; in this role she handled partner relations, contract negotiations, and business project management for several dozen game development studios, which helped her to develop and hone skills supporting and empowering the individuals and organizations she worked with. She worked in that role until autumn of 2019, when she chose to return to school with the goal of pursuing a law degree and channeling her interest in law and policy into a career serving others.
Lucille is particularly interested in the fields of environmental and immigration law and policy, especially as they relate to addressing serious issues like climate change, system inequities, and oppressive systems. Her goal is to pursue a career where she can use her skills and passions to support activists and communities working to create better systems for everyone around the globe.
Lucille’s near-term and long-term goals: In the mid-term, Lucille plans to attend law school and begin working as a practicing attorney, ideally after spending some time working and studying internationally to gain more professional experience in the fields she’s interested in. In the longer term, she hopes to establish a career supporting activists and community organizations fighting against inequality, inequity, and injustice both within and outside of the United States. Environmental issues do not impact everyone equally, and her goal is to contribute to the fight against climate change and the various systems that feed into it.
Lucille’s tips for future applicants: Take some time to really read through the website and at some of the previous scholar profiles. It can be helpful to get an idea of what some other people’s experiences have been as you’re thinking about your application and why you’re excited about the program. It also may be kind of cheesy, but don’t be afraid to be yourself. It helps the program get to know you better and it makes it a more enjoyable experience as you’re going through the application process.
Miranda Perry, Nominee
Senior, Public Health-Global Health
Ever since she can remember, Randi has had a love of science which later grew into a passion for medicine and healthcare by the time she entered high school. At age 16, she became a certified nursing assistant and by age 18, she graduated top of her class to become a nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician, where she worked with the fire department as a first responder and further refined her field of interest to focus on acute care. It was through her hands-on experience with patients she discovered just how much of an impact the interaction between caregiver and patient could have on both parties, which inspired her to pursue a career as a physician.
Here at the University of Washington, Randi discovered Global Health and quickly fell in love with the field. She is currently a senior, working towards her B.S. in Public Health-Global Health with departmental honors. Outside of her coursework, Randi was an undergraduate research intern with the Global Mental Health (GMH) Program, where she contributed to the qualitative analysis of data and composed a review of literature in preparation for the AFRICOS project. Randi is also a part of the GMH communications team where she authors the faculty/project spotlight for the program’s monthly newsletter.
Outside of her domestic endeavors, Randi spent the summer of 2019 in Ecuador as an intern with Child and Family Health International. There she collaborated with the ministry of health to perform outreach and collect data as well as study medical practices in urban clinics, rural clinics, rural hospitals, and an indigenous group outside of Puyo.
All of these experiences drive her to continue to fight health inequities around the world, a goal she will continue to strive to meet post-graduation.
Miranda’s near-term and long-term goals: After graduating Randi plans to spend 1-2 years abroad gaining international experience in the field of Global Health before applying to Medical School. Her ultimate goal is to become a physician working for an international organization such as Doctors without Borders (MSF) or UNICEF.
Miranda’s tips for future applicants: I would recommend spending some time reflecting on why you want to go to Asia specifically, and how you will apply what you learn in the future.
Roshni Sinha, Nominee
Senior, Medical Anthropology and Global Health; International Studies
Roshni Sinha is a fifth-year senior from Cupertino, California pursuing a B.S. in Medical Anthropology and Global Health and a B.A. in International Studies with a focus on International Human Rights. Roshni is a participant in the Anthropology Honors program, through which she wrote her honors thesis on the construction of memory and identity in Ethiopian adoptees in the Seattle area. Her passion for human rights and women’s rights have been shaped by the media she watched growing up and her own experiences as a Bengali-American woman living in America and traveling abroad.
After coming to the University of Washington, Roshni was involved both on and off campus through becoming a Program Leader at Unite UW, interning at the Refugee Women’s Alliance, co-coordinating a project on Human Rights and Forensic Anthropology in Latin America, becoming the Director of UW Leaders, interning for law enforcement to work on human trafficking cases, and more. Roshni has been influenced by all the individuals who believed in her and challenged her to become the leader she is today. She believes that anyone is capable of becoming a leader, but not everyone has the confidence or resources to reach their potential. She also believes that leadership extends to daily life in the form of taking initiative, especially in the face of injustice. Because of this, Roshni is passionate about empowering individuals from all backgrounds in developing their own kind of leadership and pursuing their dreams.
Roshni is passionate about supporting refugees, fighting human trafficking, working toward gender equality, and forensic anthropology. After college, she hopes to spend some time abroad developing her perspective on all these issues before pursuing graduate degrees in Human Rights and Forensic Anthropology. Roshni plans to work for an international humanitarian organization in the future at the intersection of human rights and forensic investigation so she can work with other driven individuals on issues of truth, justice, and reconciliation in post-conflict settings.
Roshni’s near-term and long-term goals: My near goal is to travel, go to graduate school to get a degree in Human Rights, and to work for a humanitarian organization to support refugees and fight human trafficking. My longer term goal is to get a graduate degree in Forensic Anthropology and return to working for a humanitarian organization at the intersection of human rights and forensic investigation in post-conflict settings.
Roshni’s tips for future applicants: I advise working closely with the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards by scheduling review appointments well in advance! I also recommend asking friends, mentors, and others to edit your personal statement when possible. Lastly, I advise taking some time to to learn to strongly articulate your passions and how the Luce Scholars program can help you pursue them.
Scholarship Archive
Browse our archive for more Luce Scholars Program history.