This is the inaugural episode of the Imagine A World podcast, Alumni Edition, where host Eli Cahan (’19 cohort) sits down with alumni to explore their journeys since graduating from Stanford and how they are making an impact in their personal and professional lives. In this episode, Eli speaks with Bingyi Wang (’18 cohort), who imagines a world where technology and science transcend borders to bring benefits to everyday people. Bingyi shares her path from China to New Mexico, where she attended a United World College, and then to Williams College, where she studied physics before later pursuing a PhD in physics at Stanford University. Bingyi discusses her research on curing blindness, her experiences as a Knight-Hennessy scholar, and how being part of the KHS community has shaped her worldview and commitment to global collaboration.

Highlights from the episode

• 2:46 Recounting the journey from China to Stanford
• 4:36 Reflecting on how Immersion Weekend drew her to Stanford
• 6:33 Connection between her work today and her time as a PhD student
• 10:23 Framing how Knight-Hennessy Scholars fit into her experience at Stanford and beyond
• 14:04 Thinking about scientific rigor beyond research in a time of uncertainty
• 16:38 Founding her first company through Knight-Hennessy Scholars
• 18:09 The value of improv and storytelling
• 21:20 Favorite Knight-Hennessy Scholars memories