Jayson Johnson (B.S. ’26) has been named to this year’s cohort of 87 Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS), becoming the first Howard alumnus to be accepted into the program. (KHS) is a multidisciplinary, multicultural graduate scholarship program. Each Knight-Hennessy scholar receives up to three years of financial support to pursue graduate studies at Stanford while engaging in experiences that prepare scholars to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders who address complex challenges facing the world. 

This ninth cohort is the most global to date, representing 31 countries with students who will pursue degrees in 45 graduate programs across all seven graduate schools at Stanford.  

Knight-Hennessy Scholars are students who have exhibited exemplary leadership acumen and community impact. KHS seeks emerging leaders who have a strong multidisciplinary and multicultural perspective and a commitment to the greater good. Through the King Global Leadership Program, which offers a wide range of workshops, lectures, projects, and experiences that complement scholars’ graduate studies, Knight-Hennessy scholars develop in their commitment to the greater good as they prepare to reach their leadership objectives. 

“The magic of Knight-Hennessy Scholars happens when scholars explore beyond the constraints of their disciplines and develop tools and approaches that allow them to work across fields,” said Tina Seelig, executive director of Knight-Hennessy Scholars. “It is inspiring to watch the transformation from accomplished individuals to truly collaborative leaders.” 

Johnson, from Silver Spring, Maryland, will be pursuing a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford School of Engineering after earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University. During his tenure at Howard, he was recognized as a Karsh STEM Scholar, Patti Grace Smith Fellow, Howard University Empower Pitch Competition winner, and American Society of Mechanical Engineers research award recipient.He also co-founded Rooted, a platform designed to improve access to information and resources for students. 

“Howard has been the foundation for everything I’ve been able to do,” said Johnson. “It gave me the confidence to aim high and the community to keep going when things got difficult and consistently pushed me to pair ambition with execution. Through the various programs I participated in, I was challenged to sharpen my technical foundation and was also given real opportunities to lead, build, and learn by doing.” 

Johnson is interested in using computational methods and machine learning to accelerate engineering design and build systems that expand access to technological opportunities. His research experience spans institutions including MIT’s Hypersonics Research Lab, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and Howard University, where he worked on problems in aerodynamics, heat transfer, and scientific machine learning. 

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