Pratyush Seshadri ’25 (Photo by Leon Godwin)
Pratyush Seshadri ’25 of Cary, North Carolina, has been named the 23rd Marshall Scholar from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the eleventh Morehead-Cain Scholar to receive the award. The prestigious Marshall Scholarship fully funds two years of graduate study at any institution in the United Kingdom.
The Morehead-Cain Scholar will graduate in May 2025 with a double major in economics and mathematics and a minor in history. At Carolina, he has served on the Daily Tar Heel’s board of directors and the executive board for the Parr Center for Ethics. Pratyush is also the co-founder of Visibility Forward, which seeks to promote the development of Asian American history curricula. For his advocacy work for Asian Americans, Pratyush was named a Robert E. Bryan Fellow through the Carolina Center for Public Service, a Clinton Global Initiative Fellow, and a Projects for Peace Foundation Winner.
As a Marshall Scholar, Pratyush plans to pursue a master of philosophy (MPhil) in economics at the University of Oxford in fall 2025. At Oxford, he hopes to focus on developing economic mechanisms to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“I was interested in applying for the Marshall because it provides an unparalleled opportunity to pursue further education in my areas of interest, explore the United Kingdom, and form relationships that will last a lifetime,” the scholar said. Pratyush is a U.S. Presidential Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa inductee.
The MPhil at Oxford will build upon his previous experiences during his time at Carolina, including macroeconomic research in Johannesburg, South Africa, work as a logistics strategist in Nairobi, Kenya, and private equity analysis on climate infrastructure that he conducted in New York City.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to know an incredible group of scholars and collaborating with them in the coming years in addressing our world’s most pressing challenges,” he said.
For several years, Pratyush has worked as a Smart Surfaces Scholar through the Smart Surfaces Coalition (SSC) to drive investment into climate-resilient infrastructure, collaborating with partners at the United Nations, the City of London, and the United States National League of Cities.
Greg Kats ’81, founder and CEO of SSC, said Pratyush stood out among his peers for his technical skills, creative initiative, and leadership. The scholar and Pranav Krishnan ’25, after visiting urban heat leaders in European capitals, developed an innovative approach to quantify the impact of heat and heat reduction on cities’ tourism revenue in India.
“Their approach has strengthened our MacArthur Foundation-funded work in India, and it has the potential for global application to better quantify enormous heat-related tourism risks,” said Greg, a frequent Summer Enrichment Program and internship host for Morehead-Cain Scholars.
Pratyush is also a researcher at the Digital Health Economics and Policy Lab at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, a multidisciplinary research group that explores issues at the nexus of economics and technology to develop novel solutions.
Through the Morehead-Cain Program, Pratyush has traveled to more than ten countries and pursued international Lovelace Fund for Discovery projects exploring topics such as refugee integration and digital technologies.
Pratyush’s commitment to tackling global challenges and innovative mindset will serve him well at Oxford, Morehead-Cain President Chris Bradford said.
“Pratyush embodies the aspirations that define Morehead-Cain: he is an engaged scholar of high character with a deep commitment to community. I know that he will rigorously explore new ideas as a Marshall Scholar and that he will impact the Oxford community as he has impacted our own. I look forward to following his leadership journey,” Bradford said.
