Aiken Wang awarded 2026 Beck Prize

Aiken Wang, a rising senior at Yale College, has been awarded the 2026 Douglas A. Beck Prize by the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. A global affairs major, Wang is particularly interested in the U.S.-China relations, national security policy and grand strategy — with aspirations of a foreign policy career in the civil service.

“What I like most about public service as a field is how deeply people support one another. We all believe in the same mission and share a common commitment to serving our communities,” he said. “Receiving this award reflects both my belief in this cause and the extraordinary support of the friends, family and mentors who have helped me reach this point.”

Through the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, Wang spent this summer conducting field work in Taiwan on the issue of asymmetric defense reform. This work builds upon previous internships at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Directorate for Strategic Plans and Policy, for which he received a Les Aspin '60 International Public Service Fellowship from the Yale Jackson School.

At Yale, Wang has been involved as vice president of the Yale Foreign Policy Initiative and a foreign policy center head for the Yale Policy Institute. He is also president and co-founder of Yale Dialogue on U.S.-China Relations, a new initiative that brings speakers to campus, provides virtual exchanges with students from China’s Tsinghua University, and develops collaborative writing projects.

Wang called the dialogue his most rewarding experience at Yale thus far. “It was both inspiring and humbling to speak with such amazing Chinese students who shared so much in common with us, despite our profoundly different outlooks on politics,” he said.

He was nominated for the Beck Prize by David Engerman, Leitner International Interdisciplinary Professor of History and Global Affairs, who taught Wang in the course “Historical Approaches to Global Affairs.”

“In this discussion-oriented class, Wang stands out for his week-in, week-out contributions to class discussion,” said Engerman in his nomination. “He’s not the loudest voice, nor the one heard most often, but every single comment he makes – without exception – draws deeply on historical and contemporary knowledge and builds generously on his classmates’ prior comments.”

The Douglas A. Beck Prize is presented to undergraduates who have demonstrated a deep interest in and commitment to global affairs, with a preference for students interested in a career supporting national security. Winners are selected based on high academic achievement, leadership potential, personal integrity, and commitment to public service.