To the inaugural class of fellows, the program was very much a work in progress. In the few months after Mr. Thiel announced the opportunity, his foundation drew
more than 400 applications for the two-year program. Twenty-four people were selected:
22 men and two women.
About half came from the country’s top institutions, like Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Six came straight from high school, turning down college entirely. Several were clearly prodigies: One began studying at MIT at the age of 14, while another was in his fourth year of a Ph.D. program in neuroscience at age 19.
