The 2026 Bill Gates Sr. Prize has been awarded to Justin Wei.
Established by Gates Cambridge Trustees in 2012 to recognise the role of the late Bill Gates Sr. in founding the Gates Cambridge Scholarship programme, the prize, chosen entirely by Gates Cambridge Scholars themselves, recognises someone who embodies the programme’s highest values: academic excellence, leadership, and a deep commitment to improving the lives of others.
And Justin Wei checks every box.
A Scholar Rewriting the Story of Solidarity
Justin’s PhD in Black British history is reshaping how historians understand interracial activism in late‑20th‑century Britain. His work traces how Afro-Caribbean, South Asian, and East Asian communities built shared spaces of resistance, in politics, culture, and art, while confronting racism, violence, and the complexities of gender and sexuality.
His scholarship has already reached international audiences, including presentations at major conferences such as the North American Conference on British Studies. His contribution to a symposium on British Black Power is now being developed into a special issue for History Workshop Journal, a leading publication in radical history.
Justin’s academic journey – from Hong Kong to Harvard (where he graduated summa cum laude), and then to Cambridge for both his MPhil in Economic and Social History and his current PhD, reflects a sustained commitment to understanding how histories of race, migration, and solidarity shape the present.
A Community Leader
Justin’s peers consistently describe him as a leader whose work is “notable in both scale and consistency.” Over his time at Cambridge, he has held five roles on the Gates Cambridge Scholars Council, including President, Communications Officer, Elections Officer, Internal Officer, and Orientation Co‑Director.
As President, he helped cultivate what he called a space of “radical support”, working closely with the Trust to secure significant financial uplift for Scholars, expand Council autonomy, revive The Scholar magazine, and lead the first major constitutional reform since the Council’s founding.
His leadership extended beyond Gates Cambridge. At St Edmund’s College, he embraced the college’s global, can‑do spirit, serving as Men’s Captain of the Boat Club, organising up to ten weekly training sessions and launching a learn‑to‑row programme for more than 30 novices. Under his guidance , the team achieved the strongest competitive racing results in the college’s history, winning the 2024-2025 award for best college performance in Cambridge.
He reflects on how his time at St Edmund’s inspired him: “I have seen up close how Eddie’s students organise for one another, and create the communities that they hope to see in college spaces. The energy that each new cohort brings with them, and the lasting impact they hope to have on our college community is really meaningful to witness.”
An Enduring Legacy
Justin’s nominators emphasised his forward‑looking leadership, his dedication to inclusive programming, and his ability to strengthen institutions for future cohorts. His contributions, spanning governance, community‑building, academic mentorship, and cultural leadership, embody not only the spirit of the Bill Gates Sr. Prize, but also St Edmund’s College.
Justin’s journey is a reminder of what the St Edmund’s community can be at its best: globally minded, intellectually rigorous, and deeply committed to the betterment of society.
