Congratulations to Ilina Logani CC'22, Julian Robles CC'17, & Arya Rao CC'22, 2026 Soros Fellows!
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides merit-based funding of up to $90,000 towards a postgraduate degree program of the recipient’s choice for New Americans, immigrants and children of immigrants, who are poised to achieve leadership in their chosen fields. This year, four Columbians have been named 2026 Soros Fellows, out of a total class of 30.
Ilina Logani CC'22 grew up at the rural border of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. Committed to addressing the spatial dimensions of inequity, they studied Economics at Columbia to gain tools to influence policy at the intersection of race, place, and collective power. Ilina's undergraduate thesis studied the link between faculty bargaining power and teacher segregation in California, earning them the David Estabrook Romine Prize. Their coalition-focused advocacy has stretched from New York City—where they co-founded Frontiers of Justice, a course connecting Columbia University undergraduates with justice-oriented organizations and policy advocates—to Spokane, Washington, where they have led grassroots initiatives providing affinity spaces for youth of color and queer youth. Ilina has recently earned an MPhil in Economic and Social History from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, studying the impact of segregation on political mobilization around toxic waste sites. As a Soros Fellow, they will pursue a JD at Stanford Law School.
from Riverside, California majored in Biology at Columbia, where he was a John Jay Scholar and received support from the Columbia Undergraduate Scholars Program Summer Enhancement Fellowship to undertake medical and epidemiological research in Mexico. After graduating from Columbia, Julian earned an MFA in creative writing at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. In Minnesota, Julian cofounded the literary organization
Poetry Online with fellow writer Tarik Dobbs to publish and print accessible literature and art. Julian then moved to Mexico City with support from the Fulbright García-Robles Scholarship to complete research for forthcoming fiction and poetry collections. As a Soros Fellow, Julian is pursuing a PhD in English at University of California, Berkeley.
Arya Rao CC'22 hails from rural Northern Michigan, where her parents immigrated from India and cared for generations of families. Inspired by their legacy, she began imagining a career that could honor that intimacy of care while extending its reach through new tools. Arya graduated from Columbia with degrees in Biochemistry and Computer Science, earning the Bridges and Sturtevant Prize for the most outstanding undergraduate research in Biological Sciences and the David B. Truman Alumni Award for the most distinguished contribution to the academic affairs of Columbia College. She also served as Captain of the Women’s Water Polo team and participated in the Columbia Music Performance Program. As a Soros Fellow, Arya will complete an MD-PhD with a focus in Bioinformatics in Harvard and MIT's joint program.
Congratulations also to Deniz Urey GSAS'29 on being named a Soros Fellow! Deniz graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Biomedical Computation. As a Soros Fellow, Deniz pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience at Columbia in Kiyohito Iigaya’s lab.
Students and alumni can learn more about the Soros Fellowship and other fellowship offerings through the Undergraduate Research & Fellowships Office.
