Dara Drake ’23 Named the University’s First Knight-Hennessy Scholar

Alumna Dara Drake ’23 has been named as a 2025 Knight-Hennessy Scholar, the first from Syracuse University.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars is a multidisciplinary, multicultural graduate scholarship program at Stanford University. Each Knight-Hennessy scholar receives up to three years of financial support to pursue graduate studies at Stanford while engaging in experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous and collaborative leaders who address complex challenges facing the world.

“Our world has never been in greater need of leaders to address a wide range of challenges,” says John L. Hennessy, Stanford University president emeritus and the Shriram Family Director of Knight-Hennessy Scholars. “Our scholars are ready to think boldly, act wisely and humbly, and lead with purpose, helping build a better future for all of us.”

Drake, from Highland Park, Illinois, earned a bachelor’s degree in policy studies from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences in 2023. At Stanford, she will enroll in a dual master’s degree program in policy, organization and leadership studies in the Graduate School of Education and public policy in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

You can read the full story in SU News here: https://news.syr.edu/blog/2025/05/13/dara-drake-23-named-the-universitys-first-knight-hennessey-scholar/