Undergraduate Programs

Jian Yang Lum ('17) chose to study International Relations with a focus on international security, the Middle East, and Central Asia, because he cares strongly about terrorism and war in today’s world. His favorite course at Stanford was Hacking For Diplomacy, where he was able to work as part of a team of students tackling foreign policy challenges. “It's been a blast thinking of a problem such as online radicalism from a different perspective,” he said, “and seeing how to integrate skills from all across the startup spectrum (design, interviewing, pivoting etc.) to something I care deeply about. It really changed how I view online radical ideology.”

Lum studied abroad in Istanbul and Oxford, and also spent a summer working in Beijing through the Global Studies Internship program. During his time at Stanford, he conducted research on insurgency in the Philippines, which turned into an honors thesis under Colonel Joseph Felter. Outside of class, Lum participated in the American Middle-Eastern Network for Dialogue at Stanford, which brings young change makers from the U.S. and the Middle East together. He also performed in musicals and Baroque concerts as a violinist and violist.

“I'm most proud of pushing myself to see the world as much as possible; learning to put myself in a foreign place, often alone and without much idea as to what to expect,” Lum said. After graduation, Lum will be working in data science in San Francisco, and in the longer term he hopes to move into the intersection of data science and international security.