Cole Walker

Cole Walker is working to obtain a Master's Degree in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University as a member of the Schwarzman Scholars program’s 8th cohort. He graduated from Duke University in 2023 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Public Policy and Chinese.

Having studied Mandarin Chinese for the last twelve years, he received a 2021 Critical Language Scholarship and spent the summer of 2022 studying abroad in Taiwan as a Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent Scholar. Cole has worked to diversify the scope of US-China relations by empowering the next generation of leaders. At Duke, he developed and taught Mandarin Chinese language curriculum for local students in Durham, NC, worked as a Mandarin tutor, and served on the publicity team for the annual Duke-UNC China Leadership Summit for two years. He also served as the Vice President of the Kappa Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. as the treasurer of the Duke National Pan-Hellenic Council, as a Duke Gardens Student Ambassador, and as a Political Engagement Project Fellow through the Sanford School of Public Policy’s Hart Leadership Program.

As the Black China Caucus’ Outreach Coordinator, he has led the China 101 program to organize a sustainable pipeline of Black students entering the China career space. Before starting his Schwarzman Scholars experience, Cole worked as a China Focus intern with the Carter Center, researching and analyzing the utility of US-China Sister City partnerships. Cole aspires to connect public and private sector stakeholders within the United States with counterparts throughout Asia to facilitate productive dialogue and cooperation on improving the efficiency of cities.