Steven W. (IN A NUTSHELL)
I’m thrilled to be starting my PhD at Peking University this September, building on a journey that began at Tabor Academy and the University of Pennsylvania. My academic path has always been interdisciplinary—stretching from mathematics and engineering to consumer psychology and entrepreneurship—and it naturally led me to co‑found ventures that range from AI‑driven healthcare devices to innovative consumer products. Those startups taught me the value of resilience, creative problem‑solving, and, above all, teamwork.
Mentorship is where I channel that experience. At Wharton’s Leadership in the Business World (LBW) program, I served as a teaching assistant, guiding high‑school entrepreneurs as they turned passion‑project ideas into market‑ready ventures. I’ve helped students craft pitch decks, refine product concepts, and strategize growth, and I’ve watched many of them earn admission to Stanford, UChicago, Wharton, and Yale. Whether I’m untangling a recursive Python function, walking someone through the elegance of a calculus proof, or challenging them to pitch a venture that solves a real‑world problem, I thrive on helping future leaders use code, math, and entrepreneurial thinking to create meaningful change.
Outside the classroom and lab, sport and music keep me balanced. I have wrestled since middle school and rowed crew throughout high school—experiences that ingrained discipline and the ability to trust a team when every stroke or takedown counts. As a tenor in the All‑State Honor Choir, I discovered how collective harmony emerges only when each voice listens as intently as it projects—a lesson that transfers seamlessly to collaborative research and startup culture.
Photography is my creative outlet; capturing candid moments on city streets sharpens my attention to subtle patterns—skills that translate surprisingly well to machine‑learning research. These passions remind me that innovation flourishes when technical rigor meets human creativity.
As I embark on doctoral research in conversational AI and human‑centered computing, I’m convinced that breakthroughs happen when diverse perspectives converge—be it in a startup garage, a choir rehearsal, or a rowing shell slicing through water at dawn. As a mentor, my aim is not merely to pass along knowledge but to ignite curiosity, foster resilience, and help students transform a spark of interest into something extraordinary.
