From Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and groundbreaking scientists to pioneering public servants and AI innovators, our alumni are making a huge impact. These trailblazing women have paved the way for many who followed, demonstrating how a BU education can prepare leaders to create, innovate, and serve their communities.
Jhumpa Lahiri (GRS’93, PhD in Renaissance Studies)
Born in London and raised in Rhode Island, Jhumpa Lahiri fell in love with literature as a child. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her debut collection, Interpreter of Maladies, which explores the immigrant experience and issues surrounding identity. She went on to write The Namesake, which was adapted into a movie in 2007.
Lahiri’s multicultural background allowed her to learn Bengali, English, and Italian, which grew her love of languages, inspired her writingand ultimately led her to become a translator. She has since written 11 books across all three languages. She received the PEN/Hemingway Award, a prestigious prize named after famous author Ernest Hemingway. In 2014, she received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama which recognizes exceptional contributions to the humanities.
Dr. Valentina Di Santo (GRS’15, PhD in Marine Biology)
Growing up in the coastal town of La Spezia, Italy, played a major role in Valentina Di Santo’s decision to pursue biology at the University of Florence. She received her PhD from Boston University and now researches the impact of ocean warming and acidification on fish’s swimming ability and bodily functions in the Di Santo Lab.
She previously worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Harvard University’s George Lauder Lab and at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. She was recently named a Sloan Research Fellow, receiving $75,000 to spend on her research for the next two years.
Gina Ortiz Jones (GRS’03, MA in Economics)
An ROTC scholarship originally brought Gina Ortiz Jones to Boston University, leading to a deployment in Iraq as a U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer. She made history as the first woman of color and first out lesbian to serve as Under Secretary of any U.S. military department appointed by President Biden in 2021. This role is the second-highest civilian leader for U.S. Air and Space Forces. Continuing her legacy of public service, she was elected as the first openly queer mayor of San Antonio, Texas, in 2025.
During her time as mayor, she has championed progressive policies and advocated for veterans. One of her notable awards is the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Pentagon’s highest civilian honor for exceptional service that helps the entire department.
Dr. Gonca Gürsun (GRS’13, PhD in Computer Science)
Born in Türkiye, Gonca Gürsun completed her early education at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara before receiving her PhD at Boston University. Today, she is a Lead AI Research Engineer and recipient of Bosch Global Inventor of the Year 2025. Selected from Bosch’s 85,000 global researchers and engineers, the award is presented to a researcher whose work has pushed the limits of technology and helped grow the global market.
Gürsun’s pioneering research helped develop the first AI-based behavior models for autonomous driving, an innovation now deployed by major car manufacturers and operating on roads across 16 European countries and the United States. Her work has enabled self-driving cars to better detect the movement of other vehicles and drive more smoothly and naturally.