The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program at Stanford supports a diverse community of graduate students, with the aim of preparing a new generation of global leaders to effect positive change in the world. Each cycle, 100 students with demonstrated leadership and civic commitment receive full funding for up to three years of graduate education at Stanford.
Alumna Lauren Croxton has been named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. Lauren graduated from U-M in 2021 as a triple major in Biology, the Environment, and Economics. At U-M, she worked in Dr. Rita Loch-Caruso’s toxicology lab under Dr. Sean Harris and co-authored a toxicology paper named a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Paper of the Year. She will be attending Stanford Law School this fall.
She served in the Biden-Harris Administration at the White House Council on Environmental Quality as a Policy Advisor and Associate Director for Sustainability. In this role, she led several initiatives to transition the US Government’s $700 billion in annual purchasing power to net zero emissions, launching the U.S. government’s scope 3 reduction strategy and first-ever plan to phase out single-use plastics from federal operations. Her other prior work experience includes work in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the policy research and non-profit sectors.
Lauren intends to dedicate her life to the fight against climate change by advancing ambitious and just environmental legislation. Her experience in academic research, the non-profit space, and two branches of federal government have given her a first-hand appreciation for the undeniable power of law as a tool for lasting change, which confirmed her aspiration to attend law school and deepened her understanding of climate change as an interdisciplinary crisis that necessitates collaboration across a wide range of perspectives.
While attending law school, she plans to further strengthen her understanding of these interdisciplinary forces and believes that KHS will provide an unparalleled opportunity to build relationships with like-minded students across different academic disciplines who will become future partners in the fight to tackle the global crisis of climate change.
Lauren is incredibly honored to be a part of the Knight-Hennessy community and is excited to spend these next three years focused on learning and building the tools to effect positive change at scale, noting, “I would not be here without my family, friends, teachers, and mentors whose passion and kindness light up my world.”
