The UVA Club Of Washington, DC 2026-2027 Scholarship Recipients

Kate Ruthkosky 

is a rising first year in the University of Virginia’s class of 2030. She has lived in Alexandria, VA her entire life, recently graduating from Thomas A. Edison High School as an International Baccalaureate Diploma recipient. 

As both an Echols Scholar and College Science Scholar at UVA, she plans to major in chemistry while diving into academic research early on, hopefully in chemical drug discovery. 

She is extremely grateful for the UVA Club of DC’s support, both for seeing her potential and for easing the financial stress of her journey, and can’t wait to start her time on Grounds as a Hoo!

Sunjae Kim

is an aspiring quantitative researcher with a passion for applying mathematics, statistics, and finance to solve real-world problems. Originally from South Korea, he immigrated to the United States at the age of six, where overcoming language barriers taught him resilience, perseverance, and the value of embracing challenges. Those experiences sparked a love for mathematics that has grown into a desire to use quantitative methods to better understand financial markets. 

Throughout high school, Sunjae has pursued research at the intersection of mathematics, artificial intelligence, and finance. One of his projects developed an original differential equation combining ARIMA, Geometric Brownian Motion, and investor sentiment to model stock prices. He has also conducted research on the Black-Scholes equation, sports analytics, and statistical modeling, while sharing educational content through his YouTube channel and open-source code on GitHub. 

Beyond academics, Sunjae is committed to leadership and service. He founded his school’s Finance Club, serves as Vice President of Mu Alpha Theta, captains the Scholastic Bowl team, tutors advanced mathematics, and mentors younger students through Mathnasium and school tutoring programs. A varsity tennis player, he has also helped lead fundraising efforts and coached youth camps. Sunjae has earned numerous honors, including multiple Virginia Math League championships, the KSEA Regional Physics Competition title, National Merit Commended Scholar recognition, and the Mu Alpha Theta High School Scholarship. 

He plans to study mathematics, statistics, and commerce in college before pursuing a career in quantitative finance or data science.