Pradnya Narkhede will graduate Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago with degrees in chemistry and biological chemistry. A Goldwater Scholar, she has conducted research at the chemical-biology interface at UChicago, UCSF, the Illinois State Geological Survey, and the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, and has performed field research in India and Uganda. Outside of academics, Pradnya leads the campus Women in Science and Out in STEM organizations. In addition to being active in the south Chicago community, she is a senior consultant to India’s National Commission on Farmers and founded an initiative to improve smallholder farmers’ prospects in response to the agrarian crisis in rural India. Pradnya's humanitarian work has been awarded a multi-year grant from the UN Development Programme. In the UK, she aspires to harness research in biochemistry to advance sustainable development.