Harvard Gives Top Prize to NZ Student's Research

Jess Jenkins thought winning Harvard's Hoopes Prize was already the shock of a lifetime. Then a week later, an email arrived announcing she'd won the Captain Jonathan Fay Prize, one of the university's highest honors.

"I just thought, 'what is this thing?' and searched it up on Google," Jenkins told Stuff. "My jaw hit the floor."

The Fay Prize recognizes the most outstanding imaginative work or original research in any field at Harvard. Jenkins was one of only three students selected from 71 finalists. It took her 72 hours to believe it was real.

The 23-year-old from Titahi Bay wrote her thesis on colonial land expropriation and how it shapes modern opportunity across New Zealand. She created the country's first suburb-level map tracking how much a child's success depends on their parents' income.

Jenkins wanted to answer a fundamental question: why does where you grow up determine where you end up? Her research found huge differences in opportunity across neighborhoods and a persistent gap between Māori and Pākehā communities.

Understanding intergenerational mobility matters because it reveals how fair our society really is. Jenkins said this measure remains poorly understood, which is why her groundbreaking suburb-by-suburb analysis fills such a crucial gap.

Why This Inspires

Jenkins arrived at Harvard in 2020 after being accepted from New Zealand. She balanced her rigorous research with singing in an a cappella group, building what she calls "my chosen family."

Her work required support from mentors and professors across multiple fields. She calls receiving the award an extraordinary privilege made possible by that collaborative spirit.

After graduation next week, Jenkins plans to work in New York with friends from her a cappella group. But she hasn't forgotten home.

"I love Aotearoa and I'm looking forward to going back at some point," she said. "Home is so beautiful. There are so many things I can do there."

Jenkins brings both technical brilliance and deep cultural understanding to questions about fairness and opportunity. Her research gives New Zealand new tools to understand inequality and chart a path toward greater mobility for all communities.