University of Notre Dame alumnus Charles Yockey has been named a 2025 Schwarzman Scholar. He is the University’s second Schwarzman Scholar since the program was established in 2015. He is one of 150 students selected for the award from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants.

Schwarzman Scholars participate in a one-year, fully funded master’s degree program in global affairs at Tsinghua University in China. Designed to build a global community of future leaders, the program offers an immersive learning experience dedicated to leadership development.

“We were so happy to find out that Charles had been selected as a 2025 Schwarzman Scholar,” said Jeffrey Thibert, senior director of undergraduate scholarly initiatives and the Paul and Maureen Stefanick Executive Director of the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) at Notre Dame. “One of the most rewarding aspects of working at Notre Dame is seeing our students and alumni receive these kinds of opportunities and knowing they are pursuing them not in service to themselves but in service to justice. It’s been a pleasure getting to know Charles over these past few years, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he continues to develop as a leader, both in the Schwarzman Scholars program and throughout his career.”

Yockey thanked CUSE and others.

“I am deeply grateful to the entire Notre Dame community, whose encouragement has played a crucial role in my academic and professional growth,” Yockey said. “I would especially like to thank the Program of Liberal Studies and the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, which have been instrumental in shaping my intellectual development. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Thibert and the CUSE team, who provided invaluable guidance and support during the Schwarzman application process.”

Yockey graduated from Notre Dame in 2023, earning a bachelor’s degree in the Program of Liberal Studies. He minored in constitutional studies. He was a Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government Tocqueville Fellow and a member of the Notre Dame chapter of the Federalist Society. He participated in research alongside Matthew E.K. Hall, the David A. Potenziani Memorial College Professor of Constitutional Studies, and Emilia Justyna Powell, professor of political science and concurrent professor of law.

Away from campus, he was a summer analyst for two investment firms — one in New York and one in Chicago — as well as an undergraduate intern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Illinois. As a senior, he was presented with the Stephen Rogers Award, given annually to a Program of Liberal Studies graduate for the purpose of graduate study.

Following his time at Notre Dame, he earned a Master of Philosophy in political thought and intellectual history from the University of Cambridge. He studied at Peterhouse, the oldest of the Cambridge colleges. His thesis explored sovereign debt remediation in historical perspective.

He currently resides in Budapest, where he works remotely as a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Legal Policy. His work focuses on antitrust, corporate governance and regulatory policy.

Additionally, he is a Budapest Fellow at the Hungary Foundation, which seeks to deepen cultural ties between Hungary and the U.S., and, in conjunction, a visiting researcher at Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s Center for International Law. He is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee, the Federalist Society, the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and he sits on the board of the D’Oyly Carte Foundation.

He was named a 2025 Publius Fellow by the Claremont Institute and, in February, received the Director’s Award from the Hoover Institution for a paper on technology policy.

Looking ahead, he hopes to leverage his Schwarzman experience to promote greater Sino-American understanding and facilitate collaboration between the public and private sectors as a diplomat, lawyer or policymaker.

“The Schwarzman Scholars program offers a unique opportunity to foster mutual understanding between China and the United States, two nations whose relationship will play a pivotal role in shaping the 21st century,” Yockey said. “In today’s contentious geopolitical climate, the importance of Sino-American relations cannot be overstated. I am eager to continue my research on sovereign debt diplomacy, which I began in graduate school and have carried forward in my early career. My experience living abroad and working on policy issues will, I hope, enable me to contribute meaningfully to the 10th cohort of Schwarzman Scholars and strengthen the vital relationship between our two political communities.”

Inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship, the Schwarzman Scholarship is a highly selective, one-year master’s degree program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. It is designed to prepare the next generation of global leaders for the challenges of the future.

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.