Jafari, a departmental Honors student set to graduate a year early this June, will receive a full-cost scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in philosophy in Population Health Sciences at the University of Cambridge, England.
The highly competitive scholarship recognizes past accomplishments and future potential. This year, 35 students from US-based institutions were selected to join the 2025 class of Gates Cambridge Scholars. In April 2025, 65 additional students from around the world will be named, forming a class of 100 Gates Cambridge Scholars from 36 institutions for the 25th anniversary of the scholarship.
“Being named a Gates Cambridge Scholar is an immense honor,” said Jafari. “It’s both inspiring and motivating to join a global community of scholars who are deeply committed to using their education to improve lives.”
Alongside this remarkable achievement, Jafari has earned the UW Class of 1962 Endowed Scholarship, the UW Chemistry Scholarship and the Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship twice. He was also honored with the Martin and Anne Jugum Scholarship in Labor Studies, each of which provided him with invaluable opportunities and enriched his undergraduate experience.
Jafari is a Biochemistry undergraduate student and an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). As a second-generation Iranian-American immigrant, he understood early on the struggles his family faced as workers before the Iranian Revolution. Drawing from this history, Jafari gained a deep appreciation for the vital role of organized labor, especially in the healthcare sector. In his studies, he is interested in further understanding how labor policies, workers' rights, and social determinants of health intersect to shape the health landscape. As an aspiring healthcare provider, he is driven by a passion for social justice and the recognition of the integral connection between labor rights and health outcomes.
Read the full announcement here.