An early interest in Chinese pays dividends for new Gates scholar

  • October 6, 2010
An early interest in Chinese pays dividends for new Gates scholar

New Gates scholar Charlie Melvoin became fascinated by Chinese at an early age and now plans a career in "independent diplomacy".

Gates scholar Charlie Melvoin [2010] developed a love of Chinese at an early age and his fascination has led him aroumd the globe and finally to Cambridge.

He has, for example, acted as a guide to Rupert Murdoch at the Beijing Olympics, worked for the UN in Uganda and visited 22 countries in his gap year.

He says he owes it all to his high school Chinese teacher, Dr Zhou, who was truly inspiring.

“He had an incredible knowledge and passion,” says Charlie. “It was a hard language to learn so though there were eight of us on the programme to begin with only four were left by the end and we got a lot of attention.”

Charlie starts a masters in Development Studies at Cambridge this term.

Read more

Latest News

First winner of Dr Arif Naveed Education Prize announced

The first Dr Arif Naveed Education Prize, honouring the work and legacy of Gates Cambridge Scholar Arif Naveed, has been awarded to a researcher and columnist from Bangladesh. The £1K […]

Creating a fairer, more inclusive healthcare system for children

Lengwe Sinkala [2026] is a doctor with a keen interest in how health systems can be improved, particularly for neurodivergent children. She spent Covid working on the frontline in a […]

How to lead in a 24/7 media environment

Two Gates Cambridge Scholars debate how to lead in a 24/7 media environment in the latest edition of the So, now what? Gates Cambridge podcast. Stephen Lezak [2019] and Ben […]

Combining fundamental Physics and start-up leadership

Viviana Gomez Ramirez [2026] likes to focus on the big questions in Physics, seeing it as a form of Philosophy. Her PhD, which she starts in the autumn, aims to […]