Five SEAS computer science students named 2013 Siebel Scholars

The Siebel Scholars program recognizes outstanding students from the world’s most prestigious graduate schools.

Five graduate students dedicated to the study of computer science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) were named among the recipients of the 2013 Siebel Scholars awards.

Tunde Agboola, Heather Pon-Barry, Adam Sealfon, Jonathan Ullman, and Thomas Wang will each receive a $35,000 award for their final year of graduate studies.

The SEAS-affiliated students in computer science are among other honorees hailing from Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, Stanford University, Tsinghua University (China), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of California, Berkeley.

Siebel Scholars are selected from among students who rank in the top of their class and are chosen by the deans of their respective schools on the basis of outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated qualities of leadership.

SEAS’ Dean Cherry A. Murray will host a reception for the winners on September 20.

The Harvard winners will also attend the 2012 Siebel Scholars Conference on October 12-14 at the University of California, Berkeley, to debate the root causes of class conflict, social and economic trends fueling disparities in income and wealth, the best approaches to solve the problem of class warfare, and the question of who should take responsibility.

Siebel Scholars will tackle this topic with experts representing a broad array of perspectives, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, New York Times columnist David Brooks, authors Niall Ferguson and Charles Murray, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader.