Jackie Ryu

Jackie Ryu graduated cum laude from The Hotchkiss School. At Columbia Engineering, he will major in Computer Science, and he is interested in attending law school upon graduation.

Jackie Ryu

Following annual voluntary service trips to Nepal since 8th grade, Jackie started looking for ways to help those in need in Nepal. As a computer science enthusiast, Jackie worked with Ethan Coffel, a fourth-year PhD student at Columbia, to research the degree and effects of climate change in Nepal, using climate models and python scripts. His paper “Prescriptions of Future Extreme Temperature and Precipitation Events in Nepal” was accepted to the European Geosciences Union in April 2016. In January 2017, he traveled to Nepal to attend the International Conference on Biodiversity, Climate Change Assessment and Impacts on Livelihood (ICBCL 2017), attended by 400 scientists, researchers, and professors from around the world as well as Nepal government officials including President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

Jackie also conducted research in astrophysics with Professor Charles Hailey at Columbia’s NuSTAR lab. He was named Semi Finalist in the Siemens Competition for his paper, “Identifying Two Newly Discovered Black Hole X-Ray Transients in the Galactic Center.” Jackie was also a U.S Physics Team National Semi-Finalist and a USA Computing Olympiad Platinum Division Qualifier. At school, Jackie created a software that visualized energy usage data from the Hotchkiss Biomass and built a Tarot X8 Octocopter drone for his school’s photography department. Jackie was also a proctor of his dormitory, the Editor-in-Chief of the science research magazine No Limits, and head of the Math Club.

Outside academics, Jackie enjoys playing soccer and Ultimate Frisbee. At Hotchkiss, Jackie captained the Varsity Ultimate Frisbee team as a Handler, winning titles from the Connecticut State Championship and New England Prep School Ultimate League. He also loves taking photographs and flying his drone during his free time.