Fajr Khan ’26 Named Rhodes Scholar From Pakistan

Fajr Khan ’26 was selected as one of two Rhodes Scholars from Pakistan to pursue graduate studies at the University of Oxford next year.

Born in Pakistan and raised in the Netherlands, Khan moved back to Lahore at age 16 to complete her final two years of high school.

Last month, she returned to Pakistan for final interviews as one of ten national finalists. Later that day, she learned she had been awarded one of the two scholarships.

“I sat in the car and was like ‘Guess who’s a Rhodes Scholar,’” she said.

“It still hasn’t really sunk in. In that moment, it didn’t feel like my name, there was this weird disembodiment,” she added.

A Leverett House resident, Khan is a Neuroscience concentrator. She has been actively involved in the Phillips Brooks House Association and Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, and works as an EMT.

She marks the third consecutive year a Harvard student has been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Pakistan, following Asmer A. Safi ’24 and Shahmir Aziz ’25.

“Growing up in different places, my Pakistani identity is complex. This is a great reinforcement of my connection with Pakistan,” she said.

At Oxford, Khan plans to continue researching mental health, specifically children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, through a graduate program in experimental psychology and psychiatry

“I think a lot of the time mental health is framed as a rich man’s disease, and something that is not the priority for people in low-income or vulnerable settings, but those are the people who need it the most,” she said.

Khan said she applied for the scholarship for the ability to become a multidisciplinary scholar where she can approach mental health with a holistic approach.

“Rhodes really encourages you to be a whole person and use whatever knowledge and research you are doing practically,” she said.

Khan has volunteered at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter since her sophomore year and currently serves as its policy director. She said that the shelter has given her a “sense of autonomy and responsibility,” as she navigates the direction of shelter policies.

“There are some types of really hard decisions that have to be made, and she is always trying to push the shelter to be better,” said Kit Carroll, the Director of Programs at the PBHA.

Carroll, one of Khan’s close mentors, said that she “stands out,” among the students she has worked with at PBHA.

“I hope that she continues to learn and grow and take the core values that I have seen her have and bring that into her work in the future,” she said.

“I am so happy that she’s going to be a Rhodes Scholar. In my mind, nobody deserves it more,” Carrol added.