Hyderabad scholar wins Harvard award; ‘only recipient’ awaits Harvard
Shreeya Sai Lakkapragada, a 2026 Wellesley graduate from Hyderabad, has been identified by Dexterity Global as a recipient of Harvard’s Louis and Ida Tatelman Award. Harvard confirms the award exists, but its public material does not name her or confirm the ‘only student’ claim.
The award is documented; the exclusivity claim awaits confirmation.
Analysis | Education
Hyderabad’s Shreeya Sai Lakkapragada has been named by Dexterity Global as the recipient of Harvard’s 2026 Louis and Ida Tatelman Award. Harvard’s public financial-aid material confirms that the award exists and is linked to an essay about “overcoming disadvantage and adversity”. It does not, however, name Lakkapragada as the recipient or confirm that she was the only student selected.
The achievement itself has a solid Hyderabad-to-Wellesley paper trail. Wellesley College’s 2026 commencement programme lists “Shreeya Sai Lakkapragada” from Hyderabad, with degrees in Psychology and South Asia Studies. Wellesley’s magazine also records her research on the college’s links with India and her stated ambition to build a mental-health organisation in India.
Dexterity says she is a former DexSchool student and Dexterity-to-College fellow. It also says she studied at Wellesley on a ₹2.7-crore full scholarship, though Wellesley’s own published records do not confirm that amount. The organisation’s claim that she was Harvard’s “ONLY” selected student remains just that until Harvard publishes the confirmation. Even prestigious institutions occasionally discover the value of a webpage.