By Tarice L.S. Gray
The Rhodes Scholarship is one of the most prestigious and oldest international fellowship programs for graduates and prolific intellectuals in the world. Created in 1902 and named after South African mining magnate Cecil John Rhodes, the program brings together more than 80 scholars each year from South Africa, Australia, Canada, Botswana, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Germany, Jamaica, and the United States, from which 32 scholars are chosen. Scholars are awarded scholarships worth $50,000 each for two years of study at Oxford University.
Alain Locke was the first African-American to win a Rhodes Scholarship in 1907, igniting a legacy of excellence that African-American students would proudly carry on over the next century. In fact, over the past four decades, Black Americans have won a Rhodes Scholarship almost each year. That’s a very sweet statistic in light of the fact that Rhodes was known to be a “brutal racist.” Here, we honor the bigot, with a list of our nations most gifted Black writers, educators, future doctors and change-makers that have utilized his scholarship to raise the bar of African-American success:
John Edgar Wideman
Wideman was the second African-American in history to be named a Rhodes Scholar in 1963. Since graduating from Oxford University in 1966, he has written 20 books, including Philadelphia Fire and Brothers and Keepers, and earned the MacAurther Genius Grant. Currently, Wideman is Asa Messer Professor and Professor of Africana Studies and English at Brown University.
Robyn S. Hadley
In 1984, Hadley became the first African-American female from the South and the third African-American female ever to recieve the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. The North Carolina native has gone on to found YESICAN, a college preparatory program, and became the founder and executive director of the “What’s After High School?” Program. She is the author of Within View, Within Reach: Navigating the College-bound Journey.
Susan Rice
Rice isn’t a household name, but she should be. Today, she serves as President Obama’s close adviser and the first African-American woman U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The early stages of her prestigious career consists of receiving a Rhodes Scholarship in the late 80s, and went on to earn a master’s and doctorate in philosophy from Oxford.
Nnenna Lynch
Lynch became a Rhodes Scholar in 1992 and earned a master’s degree in social anthropology. She was also a collegiate athlete winning the NCAA 3,000 meter event in the 1992-1993 season. The former investment banker was honored by People Magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in 1994. Today, Lynch is a a senior policy adviser to the deputy mayor for economic development, in New York City.
Cory Booker
The popular mayor of Newark not only has an impressive political resume, but he has an even more impressive academic history. After graduating from Stanford University with a bachelor’s in political science and a master’s degree in sociology, Booker earned a bachelor’s in modern history at Oxford in 1994 as a Rhodes Scholar. He continued his education at Yale Law school and graduated with a degree in 1997. All that preparation paid off. The next year, he became Newark city councilman and was eventually elected mayor in 2006.
Randal Pinkett
Before he became the first African-American to win season 4 of The Apprentice, Pinkett was the first and only African-American from his alma mater, Rutgers University, to receive a Rhodes Scholarship. He earned a master of science degree in computer science from the University of Oxford in 1994. He earned another master’s of science in electrical engineering, MBA and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Currently, Pinkett is the president and CEO of BCT Partners, a multimillion-dollar consulting firm based in Newark, NJ, that specializes in program management, information technology and public policy.
Carla Peterman
In 1998, this Oakland native and Howard University alum became the first African-American female from an HBCU to earn the prestigious honor of Rhodes Scholar. At Oxford, she earned her MBA. Peterman went on to become a stellar researcher at the University of California Energy Institute at Haas and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She has co-authored a series of publications on cost and deployment trends in the U.S. solar photovoltaic market. Most recently, Peterman was appointed to the California Energy Commission. She is a Ph.D. candidate in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley and currently serves on the board of directors for the Utility Reform Network.
Rachel Mazyck
Mazyck graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina when she was only 19 years old in 2002. In 2005, she became the only African-American to earn a Rhodes Scholarship that year. Before becoming a Rhodes Scholar, Mazyck attended Harvard Graduate School of Education and earned a master’s degree in education policy and management. She has since written about and explored ways to close the achievement gap in American education.
Garrett Johnson
Garrett Johnson proves that talented athletes can also be exceptional students. In 2005, he became the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar at his alma mater, Florida State University, where he was one of the NCAA’s elite shot putters and graduated magna cum laude in three years with a double major in political science and English. He became a Rhodes Scholar in 2006 and earned a master’s degree in migration studies. Most recently, Johnson served as a staffer on the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Myron Rolle
Rolle was a starting free safety on Florida State’s celebrated football team who was training for the NFL’s draft day when he decided to go a different route. That alternative route consisted of being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship where he enrolled in a master’s degree program in medical anthropology. After Rhodes, he was drafted by the Tennessee Titans. But still, Rolle’s ultimate goals remain off the field. Eventually, he wants to become a neurosurgeon and continue fulfilling his philanthropic duties as head of the Myron L. Rolle Foundation.
Ugwechi Amadi
This North Carolina native became a Rhodes Scholar in 2010, even though reportedly, she thought she was not going to receive the award. Now, she is pursuing a master’s of science in psychological research at Oxford. Being a black woman in the field of math and science is not something Amadi takes for granted. She understands the need for more women of color and for that reason, she has served as a mentor to middle school girls through MIT’s Science Technology & math program (STEM). One day, the exceptionally gifted academic hopes to become a neurologist.
Darryl W. Finkton
When Finkton was interviewed by his school magazine at Harvard University shortly after earning a Rhodes Scholarship in 2010, he was asked about his life’s ambition. He said, “my life goal is to remove income as one of the factors of life expectancy.” Finkton is on the road to doing just that. As a freshman, the Indianapolis native co-founded a sustainable-water-delivery system for a community in Ghana. At Harvard, he studied neurobiology with a secondary concentration in African and African-American studies. As a Rhodes Scholar, he is pursuing a master of science in global health, and also wants to earn his M.B.A. Finkton intends to go on to medical school once he completes his graduate studies.
Fagan Harris
Brian Cowen with Fagan Harris, right
A native of Glen Burnie, Md, Harris will be studying at Oxford University next year as a Rhodes Scholar. Currently, he is in the process of completing a master’s degree in human rights in criminal justice at the University of Limerick in Ireland as a Mitchell Scholar. He plans to pursue a doctorate of philosophy in education at Oxford. Harris is also currently working for an Irish government program that aims to improve the quality of life for residents in two neighborhoods in Limerick City, a community that has endured a legacy of serious social problems and high-profile criminal activities.
Esther Uduehi
When Uduehi’s parents moved to the U.S. from Nigeria, they intended to pursue a better life, which included academics. Uduehi has fully embraced this ambition, having chosen to attend Oxford University next October under the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship Program. As of now, Uduehi, is on schedule to graduate from Indiana University with a dual degree in biochemistry and mathematics. She has been a Wells Scholar, Presidential Intern, Senator Richard Lugar Scholar and a visiting student at Oxford. She is also the co- founder of the IU Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS). Uduehi intends to pursue a career in medicinal chemistry research.
