The Jackson Institute has selected its first two recipients of the Douglas A. Beck Prize. The $1,000 award is given to Global Affairs undergraduates who have demonstrated a deep interest in and commitment to global affairs, with a preference for students interested in a career supporting United States national security. Winners are selected based on high academic achievement, leadership potential, personal integrity and commitment to public service.

This year’s recipients include Nicole Ng, a senior Global Affairs major, and Andi Peng, a junior Global Affairs major.

Ng, who grew up in Hong Kong and spent summers in the U.S. and abroad, was interested in international affairs from an early age. She says the Global Affairs major appealed to her because of its policy orientation, the mix of theoretical, regional and topical courses, and the opportunity it afforded to work with practitioners at the Jackson Institute. Outside of class, Ng is very active in the Yale International Relations Association, serving as Secretary General of Yale Model United Nations.

After graduating, Ng will serve as a Gaither Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as part of the James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Program.

For Peng, the field of international affairs has been a long-standing passion. Her family immigrated to the U.S. from China when she was five, and the experience impacted her outlook on life. “I always knew there was a bigger world out there,” she said. At Yale, Peng has devoted much of her time to running model U.N. conferences and serving as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate computer science course.

This summer, Peng will work as an intern for Facebook’s counterterrorism team, a position that brings together her interests in technology and national security. After Yale, Peng plans to attend graduate school as a Harry S. Truman Scholar and is interested in a career in government.