ABOUT

The longer version

Ian Gao (Tianyi Gao) is a senior at Leland High School in San Jose, California. Mandarin Chinese and English are both native languages; Spanish is conversational. Outside of debate, research, and the stage, most of his time goes to public speaking and research in history and the social sciences.

Education

LELAND HIGH SCHOOL · 2023–PRESENT
4.33

Weighted GPA

4.00

Unweighted GPA

1540

SAT

AP coursework (all scores of 5):

  • AP European History
  • AP Chinese Language and Culture
  • AP English Language and Composition
  • AP US History
  • AP Calculus AB
  • AP Physics 1

Leadership

BEYOND THE TEAM

Justice For All

2024 – present

Co-founder and Vice President

A nonprofit promoting courtwatching among young people. Partnered with the San Jose Public Defender’s Office, collecting data that informed the office’s strategy for indigent clients, and evaluated the effectiveness of the Racial Justice Act. Now 250+ interns across 5 states, 10 chapters nationally, and 1,000+ cases watched and recorded.

Rural Debate Initiative (RuDi)

Sep 2024 – present

Debate Coach

Taught weekly speech and debate classes to a cohort of 10 middle and high school students at Jay Pritzker Academy in Cambodia, and hosted online workshops for students in rural Pennsylvania, Cambodia, and Somaliland.

District 10 Youth Advisory Council

Aug 2025 – present

Youth Council Member

Weekly meetings providing policy recommendations to San Jose City Council member George Casey; organized events like YouthConnect to grow civic engagement among young people; researched community issues and drafted policy resolutions.

Awards

HONORS
  • National Spanish Exam Gold Medal (2024)
  • National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) Degree of Special Distinction

Elsewhere

EXTERNAL COVERAGE

Ian is also referenced on a couple of pages outside this site. Links go live here once they're confirmed.

  • Leland Speech and Debate — team roster & results(link pending)
  • Leland High School newspaper — coverage of track & debate activity(link pending)

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