Naoko Mitsui Shirane Foundation

06/09/2026

05/22/2026

2023 Shirane Scholar Spotlight: Tres Jass

Tres is entering her junior year at the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in International Relations & Global Studies with a focus on International Political Economy.

This summer, Tres plans to travel with family to Greece and Turkey before heading to NYC for a Summer 2026 internship in wealth management or startups.

Fun fact: Tres created Scenely, a university campus social media app at UT Austin that received funding and is continuing development this summer!

Go Tres!

ChurchillHS

05/21/2026

2023 Shirane Scholar Spotlight: Gloria Kunnapilly

Gloria is entering her junior year at Yale University, majoring in Cognitive Science.

In Summer 2026, she plans to participate in the Swensen Internship, part of Yale’s internal consulting group within the Office of Strategic Analysis.

Fun fact: During her time at Yale, Gloria has been actively involved with Model United Nations, helping run conferences in Korea, China, Taiwan, and India. Next year, she will also serve as a First-Year Counselor, supporting freshmen as they transition to college life.

Gloria says, “I’m looking forward to my senior year, and I still cherish all the incredible memories we made on the Shirane trip!”

Go Gloria!

RagenHS

05/21/2026

05/20/2026

2023 Shirane Scholar Spotlight: Benjamin Alcott

Benjamin is entering his junior year at Rice University, majoring in Business Finance.

In Summer 2026, he plans to intern at Merrill Lynch and pursue a career in Investment Banking at JPMorgan Chase in 2027.

Fun fact: Last year, Benjamin’s family hosted their Japanese host family from Isa, Kagoshima. Together, they explored San Antonio and created wonderful memories.

Go Benjamin!

GreatHeartsNorthernOaks

05/19/2026

2024 Shirane Scholar Spotlight: Pu Reh

Pu is entering his sophomore year at Rice University, where he is majoring in Sports Management and is considering a double major in Global Affairs with a minor in Entrepreneurship.

In the summer of 2026, he has just arrived in Paris for a study abroad program. He will return in mid-June before beginning a one-month internship with a major international sports tournament.

Go Pu!

05/18/2026

2024 Shirane Scholar Spotlight: Isabel Xu

Isabel is entering her sophomore year at Duke University, where she is majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In the summer of 2026, she plans to take a statistics course and continue her work in a research lab focused on neuromorphic chips—computing systems inspired by how the brain processes information. Her work specifically involves gain cells and memristors, which are used to perform fast matrix operations in computing systems.

Her transition to Colorado has gone smoothly. We’re also happy to see your photo taken in China last winter!

Go Isabel!

05/17/2026

2024 Shirane Scholar Spotlight: Marco Amezcua

Marco is entering his sophomore year at the University of Texas at San Antonio, majoring in Mechanical Engineering, with a possible double major in Music and a minor in Math.

In the summer of 2026, he will attend a UT summit in San Antonio from June 5–7. Outside of that, he plans to work, travel, and stay active throughout the summer.
As he finishes his first year at Texas State University, he has learned a lot as a freshman. However, he will be transferring to UTSA next semester for greater opportunities.

Although he is sad to leave Texas State, he is grateful for the friendships and memories he made there. He is excited for the next chapter at UTSA and the new opportunities ahead.

Go Marco!

05/16/2026

2024 Shirane Scholar Spotlight: Sayre Eaton

Sayre is entering his sophomore year at the Colorado School of Mines, studying Materials and Metallurgical Engineering.

In the summer of 2026, he will stay on campus for the first part of the summer to complete his major field session and take a summer class. After that, he plans to keep things flexible and see how the rest of the summer unfolds.

Coming from snow-free Texas, he is taking advantage of being in Colorado by skiing!

Go Sayre!

05/15/2026

2024 Shirane Scholar Spotlight: Izabella Jaramillo

Izabella is entering her sophomore year at the University of Texas at Austin, studying Public Affairs with a double major in Sustainability and a minor in Communications.

In the summer of 2026, she will be interning with two organizations: In Good Company Institute, a nonprofit consulting group focused on voting rights, and DigiStream, a private investigative firm.

She is also a Voces Nuevas Fellow with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. It has been a rewarding experience being active in varying fields of policy.

Go Izabella!