Zain Zaidi ’25 Selected For 2026 Class of Hertz Foundation Fellows

The Hertz Fellowship supports the nation’s most promising doctoral researchers in science, engineering and mathematics.

Zain Zaidi ’25 has done it again. Fresh off of being named a 2026 Fellow by The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, Zaidi has now been selected for the 2026 class of Hertz Fellows — one of just 19 doctoral students nationwide to receive the honor.

The Hertz Foundation, the nation’s preeminent nonprofit advancing scientific and technological leadership, awards what is widely considered the country’s most competitive doctoral fellowship in science and technology. Established in 1963, the fellowship supports exceptional researchers in the applied sciences, engineering and mathematics who demonstrate extraordinary creativity, deep technical ability and the capacity to drive innovation.

“The Hertz Fellowship gives me the freedom and support to pursue the research I find most compelling,” said Zaidi. “With that flexibility, I hope to take my research in more interdisciplinary and unexpected ways than I ever imagined.”

Zaidi earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in just three years from the College of Arts and Sciences. At Stony Brook, he conducted research under Benjamin Levine, PhD, IACS Endowed Chair in chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and the Institute for Advanced Computational Science, and Arshad Mehmood, PhD, a senior research scientist in Levine’s group at IACS, applying and advancing computational methods to study the dynamics of electronically excited molecules — work that earned Zaidi the American Chemical Society’s COMP Undergraduate Poster Award in fall 2023.

“The Hertz Fellowship is arguably the most prestigious graduate fellowship in the sciences in the United States, and no one could be more deserving than Zain,” said Levine. “He is without doubt a future scientific leader, and it was a pleasure to work with him while he was here at SBU.”

Zaidi’s academic excellence was recognized early and often. As an undergraduate, he received the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Now a doctoral student in theoretical and computational chemistry at Princeton University, Zaidi works under Joseph Subotnik, PhD, where he seeks to uncover the mechanisms governing energy transfer within and between molecules, materials and solutions. His research aims to enable next‑generation materials and technologies for sustainable energy applications, a mission that aligns closely with the Hertz Foundation’s commitment to bold, high‑impact science.

“I’m deeply grateful for the mentorship and support I received throughout my time at Stony Brook, particularly from doctors Levine and Mehmood, as well as Ashley Staples [director of external fellowships and scholarly development from the External Fellowships unit in the Graduate School],” said Zaidi. “The university created an environment where undergraduates could engage meaningfully in advanced research, and those opportunities were pivotal in shaping my commitment to theoretical chemistry and my decision to pursue doctoral study at Princeton.”

As a Hertz Fellow, Zaidi will receive up to five years of financial support, allowing him to deepen his doctoral research and pursue new directions in energy‑transfer science. Fellows also join a community of more than 1,300 influential scientists and innovators, gaining lifelong access to mentoring, events and a network dedicated to advancing their success.