We may live in particularly interesting times, but who will be the leaders, entrepreneurs, and big thinkers of tomorrow? The money is on this year’s crop of Schwarzman Scholars.
Established in 2013, the prestigious Schwarzman Scholars programme aims to shape the next generation of global leaders and entrepreneurs by offering them a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in Chinese culture while gaining an understanding of the powerful country’s pivotal role in driving global trends and honing their leadership skills.
The programme was founded by American financier and philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzman, chief executive and co-founder of investment and advisory firm Blackstone. Convinced that the success of future leaders depends increasingly on an understanding of China’s role in global trends, he established the programme, designing it in collaboration with world-leading universities such as Harvard, Yale and Oxford. As geopolitical tensions reach peak levels in many of the world’s regions, identifying the next generation of leaders from across China, the US and around the world has become a crucial endeavour.
This year the 150 successful candidates have been chosen from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants following a rigorous selection process. The criteria are basic: candidates are required to be under 29 years of age, be proficient in English and hold an undergraduate degree. But the selection team evaluates applicants on their demonstrated leadership, exemplary character and intellectual ability, with interviews carried out by expert panels that include chief executives, government leaders, university presidents, and non-profit executives.
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The 150 young leaders will study for a fully-funded master’s degree at Schwarzman College, located at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, one of China’s oldest and most prestigious institutions. Tsinghua University is the alma mater of the country’s most influential leaders, including current and former president, Xi Jinping and Hu Jintao. During their time in Beijing, Schwarzman Scholars can get their teeth into a varied and challenging curriculum, which will involve lessons from world-renowned advisers and an innovative study of global affairs, underpinned by a hands-on exploration of Chinese culture and commerce.
One of these young leaders is Meath man and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) graduate Cian McGlynn, an incoming Schwarzman Scholar who is about to travel to China for the year-long programme. Having attended St Ciaran’s Community School in Kells, McGlynn went on to study global business at TCD, where he found his appetite was for the tech and entrepreneurial side of business studies.
“I also got really involved in campus life,” McGlynn says. He acted as president of the Trinity Entrepreneurial Society for a year and became heavily involved in Launchbox, the student accelerator programme. During this time, he founded a nonprofit called Givedish, which saw more than 20,000 meals donated for free.
As part of his undergraduate degree, McGlynn spent his third year of college in California, studying business administration at UC Berkeley. “While there, I got very interested in the global energy markets and realised the crucial role played by China,” he explains. “Being in California really broadened my horizons and gave me a different perspective and opened my eyes to going somewhere completely culturally different than Ireland.” Having heard of the Schwarzman programme, he decided to apply. “I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity and an amazing way to learn more about China.”
As the only Irish graduate selected this year, McGlynn’s application - which included a personal leadership essay, a short video, and three references - clearly impressed the judges. “The goal is to find out not only whether this person will thrive in the programme but will also go on and thrive afterwards and do interesting things in the world,” he notes. “It’s about showing a global level of ambition in your application.”
The preparation has been ongoing since McGlynn was announced as a recipient of the scholarship, as he decides how to maximise his time in China. There is a core academic programme focused on global affairs, but this can be tweaked to the scholar’s own personal and professional interests, which for McGlynn is the business and technology side of things. As he prepares to travel to Beijing, he cannot contain his excitement. “I have a lot of cultural curiosity about China - I haven’t been further east than Bulgaria - and I am looking forward to meeting the other people in the programme, they all have interesting backgrounds and have done some fascinating things already.”
The programme also offers the opportunity to do industry “deep dives” at different locations within China - McGlynn is hoping to travel to some of the larger commercial centres. Each scholar will also complete a capstone project, which could be a research paper, a case study or policy analysis, and McGlynn is hoping to work closely with businesses in China on his.
Guest speakers are a highlight of the programme - these have previously included political luminaries such as Madeleine Albright, Tony Blair and John Kerry. McGlynn believes there is lots to learn. “We are living through such a significant time, where the plates are shifting in terms of the world order,” he says. “China’s role in this is being redefined. We have rising geopolitical tensions across lots of industries, and I look forward to debating issues such as the energy transition or how artificial intelligence will shape the future.”
McGlynn’s ultimate ambition is to lead his own company one day. “My hope is that after the programme I will have even more conviction to do so and also have a wealth of connections and contacts within industry,” he asserts. “Having spoken to many of the alumni from the Schwarzman programme over the last couple of months, it does open up a lot of opportunities.” This access to the programme’s alumni is already proving invaluable. “Now that there have been 10 Schwarzman cohorts, the alumni from the earlier years of the programme are now firmly established on their career paths and present a rich source of contacts. They are always willing to give advice and very easy to reach out to.”
Applications for the Schwarzman Scholars class of 2026-2027 are now open. Click here for further information.
