Emma Finn ’22 was named one of 32 U.S. Rhodes Scholars in November. The scholarship provides full financial support for two to three years of postgraduate work at the University of Oxford for students focused on exemplary academic study and public service. A senior at Harvard University, Finn is completing a double major in mathematics and classics as well as a concurrent master’s degree in statistics. At Oxford, she plans to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy in statistics or statistical machine learning, focusing on understanding “creativity” in generative models like image-based diffusion models.
There are so many researchers at Oxford I admire. The opportunity to collaborate with them on work that excites me is a dream come true!
Finn also hopes to work with ethicists and policymakers to design tools to help regulate artificial intelligence fairly. “I’m especially excited to be a part of the community of Rhodes Scholars and to be surrounded by people who are driven to make the world a better place,” she says. “I hope to learn from them about the challenges they think are most pressing and work in partnership with them to identify technologies that might address those issues.”
This article was originally published in the winter 2026 edition of The Exeter Bulletin.
