February 23, 2025

Muaz Chaudhry, MPP’24, AM’24, has been selected as a 2025 Gates Cambridge Scholar to pursue doctorate studies at the University of Cambridge.

 In 2024, Chaudhry graduated from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy with an MPP as well as an MA in Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management from the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice. Throughout his career, Chaudhry has worked to help those from marginalized communities. Chaudhry’s work has earned him the Humanitarian and the Dean’s Distinguished Leadership Awards at UChicago as well as being named a UChicago Obama Foundation Scholar. Chaudhry plans to continue to advocate and conduct research to improve the lives of millions globally with the help of Gender Rights Watch, a nonprofit organization he co-founded.

Muaz Chaudhry
Muaz Chaudhry

“The social battles I fight today started in my late teens, facing a world that expected me to fail and sought to isolate me for embracing my true self,” says Chaudhry. “But I chose to carve my own path, embrace my identity, and defy societal expectations. My journey has always been about ensuring that marginalized communities don’t endure the same struggles I faced.” 

As a recipient of the Gates Cambridge scholarship, Chaudhry will continue his research as a doctorate student at the University of Cambridge. The Gates Cambridge Scholarship aims to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others.

Chaudhry’s Ph.D. research will be focused on the economics of gender and will be a comparative study between Pakistan and Thailand. His work will aim to prove the near-complete mass exclusion of the transgender community from the labor market in Pakistan; identify various channels of ostracization—social, cultural, organizational, legislative and religious—that contribute to this mass exclusion; and explore how this labor market exclusion forces the community into the sex market, resulting in heightened vulnerabilities such as hate crimes, violence, mass murders and a higher prevalence of HIV.

With his research, Chaudhry plans to advocate for inclusive policy models throughout the Global South and answer the broader questions of “What causes the labor market exclusion?” and “What does this exclusion lead to?” He said these questions are imperative to conclude what policy interventions need to take place to prevent the large-scale catastrophes that are brought about by this exclusion, and Chaudhry is confident that this research will help millions of people and many countries over time