Shaffin Siddiqui ’22 wins 2022 Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Shaffin Siddiqui ’22 was named as a recipient of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, a post-graduate scholarship awarded annually to outstanding students to attend Cambridge University. He is one of 23 U.S. winners of the scholarship, and one of about 80 scholars chosen overall.

At Cambridge he intends to pursue a Master of Philosophy degree in the history and philosophy of science and medicine, focusing on “how a key socio-intellectual class in diasporic Muslim communities, the ulama (traditionally educated Islamic scholars), have engaged modern biomedicine and promoted varied paradigms and practices of health within Western Muslim populations,” according to his bio on the Gates website.

Siddiqui is a history concentrator writing his thesis on “how Islamic scholars and intellectuals from the Nation of Islam crafted particular narratives of health and healing as a form of cultural resistance,” according to the University announcement of the scholarship.

In his bio on the Gates website, Siddiqui reflected on his time at Princeton, writing that the history department allowed him to combine “my interests in the history of Islam and the practice of medicine” by researching “the history of medicine in the Muslim world.”

Selection criteria for the scholarship includes outstanding intellectual ability, a commitment to improving the lives of others, and leadership potential. The Gates Cambridge Scholarship mission is to “build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others.” According to the Gates Cambridge Scholarship directory, 60 Princetonians have received this scholarship since 2001.

While at Princeton, he received the Stone/Davis Prize for senior thesis funding from the history department, the Muslim Life Program Young Chaplain Recognition, and the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence. He also was recognized with the Confident Muslim Award from the Islamic Society of North America.

Siddiqui volunteers for Paper Planes, an academic advising program that matches “conflict-affected individuals with personal tutors,” Princeton Peer Nightline, and CONTACT, an emotional support hotline based in Mercer County.

Siddiqui did not respond to a request for comment in the time for publication.

Sidney Singer is an Assistant News Editor who has covered a variety of news on and around campus. She can be reached at sidneysinger@princeton.edu, on Twitter @sidneylsinger, or on Instagram @sidneysinger.