UMD Senior Dhruvak Mirani Awarded Prestigious Marshall Scholarship

The dual-degree student in computer science and international relations plans to pursue master’s degrees in global security and cybersecurity.

University of Maryland senior Dhruvak Mirani has been named a 2026 Marshall Scholar. The Marshall Scholarship, considered one of the world’s most prestigious academic honors, funds up to 50 award recipients per year to pursue graduate education in the United Kingdom. He and fellow 2026 awardee Sarah Cobau (B.A. ’24, history; B.A. ’24, philosophy, politics and economics) are UMD's seventh and eighth students to earn the distinction. 

“The Marshall Scholarship honors the world’s best and brightest young people,” said Richard Bell, a UMD history professor and chair of the university’s U.K. Fellowships Committee. “Dhruvak’s recognition this year is a testament to his brilliance, vision and commitment to the greater good.”

Mirani, a dual-degree student in computer science and international relations, plans to use his scholarship to pursue a Master of Science degree in global security at the University of Glasgow, followed by a Master of Science degree in cybersecurity at King’s College London.

Mirani’s long-term goal is to work in United States national cybersecurity policymaking —for instance, at the National Security Council or the Department of State. He envisions crafting international agreements that establish reasonable practices for cyber conduct and creating standards to prevent loss of life or property via cyberattacks.

“I bring a technical perspective to the policymaking process as cyberattacks become an increasingly large focus of our national security enterprise,” Mirani said. “Our government desperately needs people who have technical expertise in the places where these kinds of decisions are made.”

Mirani’s interest in computer science began as a student at Glenelg High School in Howard County, Maryland. He recalls experimenting with ethical hacking—the use of hacking techniques to diagnose and fix security issues—through which he identified a vulnerability in The Washington Post’s website.

“I emailed them about it, and they never replied to me,” he laughed. “But they fixed the vulnerability, so I was happy to see that.”

As a student in UMD’s Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students program in the Honors College, Mirani spent two years working with the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS), a University Affiliated Research Center at UMD that serves the U.S government in intelligence and security, where he developed open-source intelligence tools to protect American intellectual property. That experience “broke the illusion that everything you learn in the classroom has to be applied toward a private company,” he said. 

“Dhruvak was a mind reader and kindred spirit as we worked together,” said David Lovell, a civil and environmental engineering professor at UMD and Mirani’s research mentor at ARLIS. “His development and security skills were excellent, he showed tremendous initiative as we were getting the platform off the ground and he was a delight to work with.”

Mirani became interested in public service as early as elementary school, when he recalls staying up past his bedtime without telling his parents to watch the State of the Union address. Mirani is currently student regent to the University System of Maryland and UMD student body president. He previously served as student liaison to the College Park City Council and was a legislative and press intern for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. His commitment to public service was honored in spring 2025 when he won the prestigious Truman Scholarship as a junior.

Mirani credits his experiences at UMD for revealing how public service and cybersecurity “were not discrete paths—that there is a way I could follow both interests at the same time,” he said.

He will continue integrating those interests as a Marshall Scholar, where he is as focused on forging community as he is on academics.

“The Truman Scholar community has become such an important part of my life, in ways that I never could have predicted or imagined. Members of my Truman cohort whom I met in April have become some of my closest friends,” Mirani said. “The idea of being able to be part of the Marshall’s community of talented, motivated young people—many of whom share that same public service interest—is something that I really couldn't have possibly said no to.”