experience
summary
I'm a PhD Candidate in Economics at the University of Oxford, and I received my MPhil in Economics from the same institution in 2024. My research interests lie in market design.
I hold a B.S. in economics, a B.A. in applied physics (a self-designed major), and a minor in Latin from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I graduated with highest distinction.
At Oxford, I'm a Rhodes scholar, and at UNC, I was a Morehead-Cain scholar, Phi Beta Kappa member, Honors Carolina laureate, Robert E. Bryan fellow, LAUNCH Chapel Hill fellow, and Parr Center for Ethics fellow.
research
Research Assistant age 24-25, 4 months → Department of Economics, Harvard
Working for Scott Kominers. Got verbal permission to write an introduction to an economics book in the style of a poetry journal.
Research Assistant age 23-24, 6 monthsDepartment of Economics, Oxford
Wrote the lecture notes and did some course admin for a semester-long market-design course at University of California, Berkeley. Also wrote some time-consuming Matlab-to-TeX code that replicates the results from "Matching Mechanisms for Refugee Resettlement" (2023, AER).
Academic Visitor age 22, 4 monthsDepartment of Economics, UZH
Researched market design (two-sided matching markets, with general applications to the refugee matching problem, school choice, etc.) under microeconomic theorist Marek Pycia. Lived alone, worked mostly alone. Realized
Below are some short documents that highlight some cool aspects of matching markets. Note, in the following, preferences are uncorrelated; this is the main separation from IRL, where we might all agree, e.g., that Brad Pitt is hot. The canonical model assumes we think Brad Pitt is hot at the same rate that we think my brother is hot.
> comparative welfare in deferred acceptance
> truncation strategies
> value of competition
Research Group Lead age 19-21, 2 yearsDepartment of Physics, UNC
Met a physics professor (Dr. Daniel Young) because someone confused my research in game theory for his research in games. Founded a research group under him that studied the ways that games can teach both economic theory and introductory physics principles. Gave 5 different conference talks. Taught own class on the material.Research Assistant age 20-21, 1 yearDepartment of Classics, UNC
One-on-ones 3+ times a week with UNC’s best professor, Sharon James. Read and hyper-analyzed everything from Derek Walcott’s Omeros to Homer’s poems (they were not texts, they were spoken). Sort-of TA’ed a first-year seminar on Greek tragedy. Discussed racial inequality in classical literature and academia.Government Research Fellow age 18, 3 monthsLouisville Metro Government
Co-wrote a long report detailing the financial policy that immigrant business owners want. Lived and worked with three other Morehead-Cain Scholars. Learned that cleaning is the recipe for a happy household.Research Assistant age 18, 6 monthsDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, UNC
Wrote a Python script that estimated people’s political tendencies based on the language they used on Reddit. Learned that Stack Overflow is divine.
Research Assistant age 17, 3 monthsDepartment of Biochemistry, Ohio State University
Poured chemical cocktails into beakers. PI didn’t like me because my mom always dropped me off late.
professional
Data Scientist age 23-24, 3 months
Total Wine & More
Contracted to analyze how demographic factors in certain states correlate with revenues. Made the entire machine-learning analysis interactive in Looker. Got to play in WeWorks.
Operations Associate age 22, 5 months
Zoomo
Used company budget to throw a “Zoomo Party” at one of our bike shops. Showed company leadership that prepaid card-using customers were good actors. Got to play in WeWorks.
Product Manager age 22, 4 months
Unity
Learned SQL and deltaDNA, then became the “tutorial guy” for SQL and deltaDNA. Helped pivot Unity Reflect from “pre-process” software (3D review; Revit, Rhino, SketchUp) to “post-process,” where building managers can maintain their spaces digitally. Worked on a racing video game (C# and Unity) with my friend Sam during work hours because part of my job was to “interface with the software.”
Co-founder age 21, 6 monthsSplitTime
Built a scheduling app where employees say where/with whom they want to work, and schedules are assigned according to preferences, capacity limits, and safety. Hired 5 team members, led engineering and design, and did everything from mock up UI/UX to coding. Conducted 27 personalized product demos and 58 interviews with consulting firms, sports teams, and F500 companies. Worked 90-hour weeks; realized that was untenable.
Economics Associate age 20-21, 6 monthsZoomo
Went to design security software; realized the security they needed was on-the-ground instead of in microchips. Biked around (safely) during the pandemic. Got a room in a co-living space because it was cheaper; this was, in fact, less safe.
Product Manager, Intern age 19-20, 4 monthsCarbon
Wrote hierarchical clustering algorithms using the Python-Splunk REST API with a Nest add-on for automated queries. Recruited coworkers to join an inter-company basketball league in Silicon Valley; made a game-winner after my last day of work.
Warehouse Worker age 18, 2 monthsFST Logistics
Packed and moved boxes. Ate cereal out of a guy’s pocket once.
Mechanical Engineer age 15-18, 3 yearsPrater Engineering
Drafted CAD files, sometimes Revit files. Designed HVAC units that were probably revised by people above me. Never talked to anybody.
nonprofit
Co-founder age 22-23, 1 year
The Propertius Project
Built website in simple HTML, CSS, and JS that houses different versions of Propertius’ Elegies. Trying to incorporate the material into Latin curricula. Paid lawyers to tell me I couldn’t shouldn’t get sued.Co-founder age 19-21, 2 yearsUNCUT
Started a media company that went live at 8 universities during my tenure. Over 300,000 total likes, views, and reads, just at the Chapel Hill branch. Told by a few of the 140 athletes we’ve covered that we saved their lives. Panicked when the company I built surpassed me in social media follows.
Co-founder age 20-21, 1 yearHeels Against Hunger
Hosted parties where people listened to music, danced, made food, then donated food. Made over 500 meals, but then COVID, so we organized the delivery of over 2,000 meals instead.Team Captain age 18, 6 monthsCarolina For The Kids
Broke record for most number of people recruited to join one team. (Teams danced for 24 hours straight and raised money for kids at UNC Children’s.) Subsequently broke record for least amount of money raised per team members. Learned that quality > quantity.
teaching
Course Instructor age 20, 6 monthsSPCL 400: Game Show Theory
Allowed to design/teach own course to fellow college students. Topics included one- and two-sided matching markets, auctions, game theory, Newtonian physics, gauge theory, math riddles, and various philosophical quandaries. Mean 5/5 instructor rating, mean 4.92/5 course rating. (The student ascribed her non-5 course rating to its "scattered" nature. This was reasonable.) Tutor age 15-25, sporadically→miscellaneous, usually free-lance
Most notable story: Assigned via agency to tutor a high schooler in Algebra 1. Taught him all of his first semester math in 1 session, went rogue and taught him how to code. Parents were reasonably upset.
really cool things
Founder? age 24-25, 1 year →Show Me Why You Love It
Started a seminar series where Rhodes scholars present to each other about why they love what they work on. Seminar topics have included theoretical computer science, drug-checking, the Unabomber, gene upregulation in inherited cardiomyopathies, mental health in children, Gaza.
Founder? age 22-25, 3 years →The Letter of the 18th
Email chain where some of my best friends email each other their deepest or lightest or anywhere-in-between thoughts, and people consistently respond. Will someday get a digital home.
physical
Men's Basketball Player age 23-25, 2 years →University of Oxford
Captain of the Blues (varsity) team. In my first year, I smashed my teeth into my mouth during the season and had to go to the ER twice.
Marathoner age 24, 5 hoursMadeira Island Ultra-Trail
Went with a pack of 13 friends to run 42 kilometers in the Madeira mountainside. Didn't train, should have; right leg is still injured at the time of writing this (a few months later).Half Ironman age 23, 7 hoursIRONMAN 70.3 Ohio
Back wheel of my bike broke at mile 37; repairman fixed me up and said, "Okay, you're good, just don't change gears." I said "Wat?"; he said "Don't change gears." I tried to change gears in front of him, because obviously, and the wheel got all messed up again. I said "Can you at least put it on a high gear?" He said "No." So I biked the last 19 miles on the lowest gear.
Then I got to the run and ran the first mile split at sub-6 pace, because adrenaline, and then my body reminded me that I biked 19 miles on my bike's lowest gear and also that I biked 37 miles and swam two kilometers before that. Still finished, somehow.
Cyclist age 21, 2 monthsEast Coast Greenway
Biked 500+ miles up the coast. Took photos and wrote about it.Practice Squad Player age 19-20, 1.5 yearsUNC Women's Basketball Team
Practiced roughly 6x/week with varsity basketball players. Nicknamed “Little Man” because I was smaller than everyone else. Would have continued if not for pandemic restrictions.