Maya Butani ’26 and Daniel Yu ’26 have been named Marshall Scholar Recipients for 2025. The scholarship funds two years of graduate study in the United Kingdom.
Butani and Yu were two of 43 recipients selected from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants from colleges and universities across the country.
The recipients are chosen by the eight regional U.S. committees. Both Butani and Yu were selected from the New York region, which includes New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania and Fairfield County in Connecticut.
The Marshall Scholarship gives “‘intellectually distinguished young Americans, their country’s future leaders’ to study at the U.K. institution of their choice,” according to the University’s press release. The scholarship was established in 1953 and has an alumni network of about 2,000.
When Butani found out, she was in line for a meal exchange at the Cap and Gown Club. She recalled the phone call she received from the regional committee’s head interviewer, saying how they “try to throw you off so that you don’t know that you won it when you start the call.”
“It was pretty incredible,” Butani said. “I was in shock, and after hanging up the call, I kept checking my call log to make sure it was actually real, because it kind of felt like I had maybe dreamed it. I immediately called my parents.”
Simiarly, for Yu the call came with a wave of shock. He described his initial reaction being “really?” before rejoicing and calling his parents.
Butani, a native of Moorestown, N.J. studying molecular biology with minors in global health and engineering biology, is a member of Whitman College and Terrace Club. On campus, she is on the club flag football team, an Orange Key tour guide, a senior fellow at the Pace Center for Civic Engagement, and a peer academic advisor.
Butani’s senior thesis explores how ribosomal differences in parasites that cause neglected tropical diseases could lead to new treatments. She has been granted funding to travel to Cape Town, South Africa over winter break to conduct interviews for the research.
“I’m really interested in how we can take biomedical research and bring those findings and new discoveries to populations and people who typically don’t get to benefit from cutting edge innovations,” she said.
Sebastián Ramírez Hernández GS ’18, the Director of Service Focus, wrote one of the letters of recommendation that Butani submitted as part of her application.
“Maya’s approach to healthcare, connecting design, social, cultural and structural awareness, and academic rigor is truly unique and speaks to her approach to leadership writ large: insightful, humble, eloquent, scrupulous, and socially minded,” he wrote to The Daily Princetonian.
Butani’s thesis advisor, Professor Cliff Brangwynne, wrote Butani’s second letter of recommendation.
Butani will pursue a master’s in Immunology of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, followed by an MPhil in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Cambridge. After her studies in the U.K., she hopes to complete an MD-Ph.D, combining clinical training with research to bring new technologies to underserved settings.
Born and raised in New York City, Yu is majoring in African American Studies (AAS) and pursuing minors in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Creative Writing. His research interests lie at the intersections of race and gender, with a particular focus on Black queer and trans studies.
“My thesis is about the role of race and racism in anti-gender movements. So the backlash, specifically in the American context, to DEI, so called gender ideology, to queer and trans identity, things like that,” Yu said. “So thinking about what role Blackness has in particular within these discourses of moral panic.”
Marcus Lee, an AAS professor and Yu’s thesis advisor, wrote that “Daniel is an exceptionally talented, diligent, and enterprising student. His work considers some of the most important issues of our time. I am confident that he will continue to enlarge our shared understandings of the human condition.”
Outside of the classroom, Yu is a Writing Center Fellow and the founder of Positions, Princeton’s Asian diaspora student publication. He is a member of Forbes College, as well as a peer educator at the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC).
Yu plans to spend the first year of his scholarship studying an interdisciplinary degree in Race and Gender Studies at SOAS University of London, and while he is still deciding, he may pursue a degree in Socio-Legal Studies the second year.
When reflecting on his Princeton experience, Yu said that he is especially grateful for the AAS Department, which he said was “integral” to his time at the University.
“I’m just very, very endlessly grateful for all the different ways that [the department has] made it clear that these issues about race and gender and power are absolutely their priority, and they’re worth studying. And the ways that faculty and the other students have rallied around and supported my work,” he said.
Applicants for the Marshall Scholarship first submit their applications for Princeton’s endorsement and then apply for the national scholarship by region. Princeton provides support throughout the application process, including feedback on essays. From there, an in-person interview is conducted and the chosen recipients are contacted shortly after.
Hayk Yengibaryan is a head News editor, senior Sports writer, and education director for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Glendale, Calif. and typically covers breaking news and profiles. He can be reached at hy5161[at]princeton.edu.
Ambre Van de Velde is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Boston and can be reached at av8447[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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