Rushil Vashee
Washington, D.C.| Grant Category: | Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Program |
| Project Title: | Understanding Economic Access and Participation in Gujarat, India |
| Field of Study: | Economics |
| Home Institution: | George Washington University, Washington, D.C. |
| Host Institution: | Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, Delhi |
| Grant Start Month: | September 2025 |
| Duration of Grant: | Nine months |
Brief Bio:
Rushil Vashee earned a BS summa cum laude in international political economy from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2025. He was awarded the Dean’s Medal for earning the highest cumulative GPA in the school. Rushil’s senior thesis, awarded departmental honors, leveraged an original database on international lending to explore why some countries rejected international assistance during COVID-19.
During his time at Georgetown, Rushil interned at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and the Edunomics Lab. He was also an intern with the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University. While studying abroad at Ecuador’s Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Rushil was a research assistant in the Laboratory of Computational and Experimental Economics. Rushil’s time in Ecuador, shaped by everyday conversations with his host family, classmates, and taxi drivers, deepened his curiosity about how social dynamics shape access to opportunity in urban economies.
Beyond academic and policy work, Rushil is an experienced journalist. He has published over 100 articles about the National Football League for USA TODAY Sports. A holder of a journalism minor from Georgetown University, Rushil, for his capstone project, interviewed NFL players and agents to examine the post-career narratives of professional athletes. He has also served as a senior coordinator of Georgetown Rangila, the largest charity dance showcase in the United States with over 400 participants every year. Besides, he helped raise a record sum of $81,000 for a Nepali nonprofit to sponsor 300 years of girls’ education and to renovate a science lab and a school library. For his leadership skills, Rushil received the Martha Swanson Outstanding Senior Leader Award at Georgetown University.
Rushil’s Fulbright-Nehru research project is focusing on understanding the differences in economic access in Gujarat, one of the fastest growing states in India. The project is investigating the behavioral and institutional factors that shape economic inclusion across both urban and rural Gujarat. Through fieldwork in Delhi and Gujarat, Rushil aims to produce actionable insights that set the stage for the next leap in global financial access.