Three George Washington University graduate students, Preeti Kulkarni, Urja Mehta and Zoe Singleton, were selected to join the 2026-27 Presidential Fellowship cohort. As presidential fellows, the three will serve in key offices at GW while taking on a broader ambassador role—bringing their perspectives as students and alumnae to university priorities and the graduate student experience.
The Presidential Fellowship, founded in 1989, is a long-standing GW program that develops future leaders while creating opportunities for graduate students to contribute meaningfully to the university community.
The new cohort will also build on the work of previous presidential fellows to strengthen the graduate student community and their sense of belonging to the university. Over the past year, fellows Nina Balandina, Jack Hatcher, Markella Lanara and Grace Allread launched Connect & Thrive, a series of 12 social and professional development programs that have engaged more than 400 master’s and doctoral students to date. The initiative created new opportunities for graduate students across GW to connect with the university and one another.
This year’s fellows will carry that work forward while identifying new ways to serve as ambassadors and contribute to graduate student success across GW.
“One of the things that makes the Presidential Fellowship so special is that its impact extends well beyond the fellows themselves,” said Program Director Autumn Anthony. “Each cohort has an opportunity to build on what came before it while bringing its own ideas about how to strengthen the graduate student experience. We’re excited to see Preeti, Urja and Zoe continue that legacy—not only through the important work they’ll do in their placement offices, but as ambassadors and community-builders for graduate students across GW.”
Fellows serve in offices throughout the university that often complement their graduate degree or professional goals. In return for this commitment to the university, recipients receive full tuition coverage for two years, along with a total of $35,000 in stipend and salary payments each academic year of the program.
Meet the Fellows
Preeti Kulkarni, B.A. ’26, will be working in the Office of the Provost while pursuing her master’s degree in security policy studies.
She was in Gelman Library when she received the news that she had been selected for what she called a “life-changing” opportunity as a presidential fellow, enabling her to continue her education without financial burden.
“I get to give back to a school that's done so much for me,” Kulkarni said. “It's given me so many opportunities professionally and personally and has been such an important place of growth. Being able to contribute to that institution in such a direct way was super humbling.”
Kulkarni, who graduated with her bachelor’s degree in international affairs in May, is eager to engage with the GW community in her role.
As someone who was heavily involved as an undergrad—including serving as the vice president for the Elliott Society for Global Affairs—Kulkarni has seen “how important it is to have a student voice in the room when decisions are being made,” and she is thrilled to be that liaison in the office that supports all of the university’s academic endeavors.
The fellowship will give Kulkarni a strong foundation for her future endeavors. She said studying security policy will allow her to explore how development and security often address the same global issues from different perspectives, an intersection she is eager to explore in her career.
Urja Mehta, B.P.H. ’26, is pursuing her master’s in healthcare administration while working in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) for her fellowship.
In her role, she will be supporting university-wide research initiatives by helping researchers turn an idea into a proposal, secure funding and get published. As someone who did her fair share of research as an undergraduate student at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, she is excited to support GW’s entire research enterprise from start to finish.
“The fact that I was placed in an office that allows that kind of ripple effect to happen—not just for one researcher but for hundreds, if not thousands—is really important to me,” Mehta said.
She is also excited to help support the university-wide Research Days, figuring out logistics such as where posters go and other coordinating endeavors. Because research is under such a large umbrella at GW, she is eager to learn about the many different types of academic fields that partake in research and discovery at the university.
Hailing from the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, the former admissions tour guide and ambassador is thrilled to be back at GW and paying it forward in such a meaningful way.
“As I continue to grow and evolve, I can only thank GW for the investment it's made in me,” said Mehta, who spent the summer working as a healthcare administration intern at Dayton Children’s Hospital. “I'm hoping that, in return, I can invest back into GW through my time, my service and, of course, through the Presidential Fellowship.”
Zoe Singleton, B.A. ’26, will work in the Office of the President as she pursues a master’s degree in political management.
Singleton, who just graduated with her bachelor’s degree in American studies from GW, was walking to her apartment this spring when she received the news, which made her “stop in her tracks in the middle of the alley” to call her mom and dad. She then called her grandma and great-grandma when she got home. The news that she would be attending graduate school without financial burden brought happiness to the entire family.
“I ended up in my kitchen trying to make food while we were all reacting, and I was spilling stuff and just kind of all over the place because I was going insane,” she said.
Singleton is also looking forward to serving as a student liaison for university leadership. She believes this role fits well with her field of study—political management—an interest she gained after an undergraduate course called Sex, Gender and Citizenship inspired her to be a culturally informed advocate.
“I hope that, especially by being in the Office of the President, I'll be able to improve my skills in communicating with different offices and different branches, and really bringing people together,” said Singleton, who also interned on Capitol Hill as an undergraduate.
“Political management, and what I want to do with it, requires an insane amount of communication skills and time management skills. I think this fellowship will really help teach me that and help me hone and sharpen those skills.”
