D3 All-American Renee Liu Awarded Schwarzman Scholarship

The ninth cohort of Schwarzman Scholars has been announced. Renee Liu, a Johns Hopkins University graduate and NCAA All-American swimmer, is among the class of 2025 prize recipients.

Liu enrolled at JHU in the fall of 2019 and played two seasons. In 2022, she received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and has since worked as a senior research assistant in the ophthalmology department at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. One of her study projects included a trip to India, which piqued her curiosity in learning more about other countries’ healthcare systems.

“After my trip to India, I realized not only can we as Americans bring a lot to other countries, but we have a lot to learn from other countries, as well,” Liu said, according to a Johns Hopkins press release. “I wanted to deeply explore the health care system of another large country and gain insights into the Chinese medical school reform led by world-renowned JHU alumni and physician-scientist, Professor Wong Tien Yin.”

In her freshman season, Liu qualified for the D3 NCAAs in the 200 backstroke. Her season was cut short due to the start of the Covid-19 season, therefore she never played a full collegiate season. It was a similar story during the 2020-21 season, with Hopkins’ campus closed to students for the fall semester. In the spring, the Blue Jays returned to the pool in a limited capacity, including a dual meet with Gettysburg in April 2021.

The Schwarzman Scholars program was created in 2016. The program allows up to 200 students per year to study a fully funded master’s degree in global issues at Tsinghua University in Beijing while also gaining a better understanding of China. They also seek learning opportunities outside of the classroom by traveling throughout the country and engaging with industry and government leaders.

Matt Dawe, who was named CEO of the International Swimming League in 2022, was originally on the list of scholars but has subsequently been removed. SwimSwam has reached out to the Schwarzman Scholars for comment.