LAUDER’S MOST FASCINATING STUDENTS
At the Lauder Institute, intellectual curiosity isn’t just encouraged—it’s celebrated. Across two cohorts of almost 150 students, a few stand out not just for their achievements but for how they think, engage, and inspire. In a new initiative this year, Brannen Dickson, Joselyn Salazar Garcia, and Rayan Sabbah were nominated by their peers as Lauder’s most fascinating—students who ignite conversation, challenge assumptions, and leave a lasting impression on those around them.
BRANNEN DICKSON
Brannen Dickson (G26, WG26) embodies the idea that the most fascinating individuals are often those most fascinated by the world around them. A student in Lauder’s East and Southeast Asia (Mandarin) Program, Brannen was nominated by his peers for his insatiable curiosity, intellectual depth, and knack for sharing fun facts that spark lively conversations. Describing himself as ‘overly inquisitive,’ Brannen is fluent in Spanish, and is steadily building fluency in Mandarin and Russian. He says he approaches languages as intricate puzzles, each revealing new perspectives, cultural traits, and opportunities for genuine interaction. His Jamaican parents instilled in him a deep appreciation for cultural exploration, a passion that has taken him to over 15 countries and led him down countless research rabbit holes—whether through extensive reading or virtual journeys via Google Maps.
Beyond his linguistic talents, Brannen’s interests span from Soviet-era cinema to Central Asian history and geography, and even to the meticulous construction of 9,000-piece LEGO sets.
Prior to Lauder, Brannen interned at Pfizer during the COVID vaccine rollout, gathering information on pandemic preparedness at a pivotal moment for the company. Now pursuing an MBA with a focus on Business Economics and Public Policy, he is poised to expand his career into the areas of domestic and foreign policy. As one of the youngest students in his Lauder cohort, Brannen’s dedication to continuous learning underscores how the relentless pursuit of knowledge can transform someone from a seeker into a source of inspiration.
JOSELYN SALAZAR GARCIA
Among a globally-minded cohort, Joselyn Salazar Garcia (G25, WG25) was nominated for her distinctly international background and unique perspective, shaped by an upbringing across five continents. Born in Ecuador, she moved frequently due to her father’s career in oil and gas, living in Mexico, the U.K., Iran, India, Azerbaijan, Egypt, and the U.S. before adulthood. Joselyn speaks Spanish and French fluently, is comfortable in Russian, and even spoke Farsi as a child. But with every move came the same question: Where do I belong? “Home was wherever my parents were,” she says. At Lauder, she found another kind of home—a community of like-minded individuals who, like her, know what it means to live in constant transition.
Beyond her global roots, Joselyn’s mind is wired for patterns. A former mathematical economics and French major at Penn, and now a student in Lauder’s Europe (French) program, she sees an undeniable connection between problem-solving and language learning. “A lot of people study math and languages together because the skills are similar—pattern recognition, understanding things from first principles,” she explains. “With math, you need to learn the foundations before you can ever get to the more difficult problems. Similarly, with languages, if you don’t learn the basics, you’ll never reach fluency.” That structured building-block approach shaped her prior work at Boston Consulting Group, where she aided large-scale transformations for major oil and gas clients, and at Google, where she helped drive strategy for the company’s largest revenue-generating division. Now about to graduate, Joselyn has set her sights on a career in tech policy doing what she does best— decoding complexity, engaging across cultures, and turning uncertainty into opportunity.
RAYAN SABBAH
Rayan Sabbah (G26, WG26) is not easily categorized—nor does he want to be. The son of a German mother and Lebanese father, he grew up in Germany, lived in Lebanon, and studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford. He approaches the world with a multidisciplinary curiosity, analyzing cultural nuances and questioning conventional wisdom. Fluent in German and Arabic, he is intrigued by the contradictions in people and systems, striving to form perspectives and opinions that are multifaceted and deeply considered.
His interests span centuries, from prehistory to the Roman Republic to contemporary political science, but if he could sit with one historical figure, it would be Pericles—the ancient Greek statesman who navigated the complexities of Athenian democracy. “I would wonder what he, as a practitioner, would say. Whether there’s something to learn from that experiment for big societies today,” he muses, always searching for lessons history can lend to the present.
But Rayan is no armchair philosopher. Having witnessed Lebanon’s 2020 economic collapse firsthand—including a hostage-taking at the bank where he worked—he is driven to give back in meaningful ways, convinced that success is best when it is shared. Currently a student in Lauder’s Global Program, Rayan was nominated for being “intensely knowledgeable, yet disarmingly humble,” a classmate whose insights can captivate an entire room. And if history is any guide, Rayan is just getting started.
Written by Lauren Treutler
Published April 10, 2025
