Becoming an academic superstar doesn’t happen overnight. It takes
grit, character, and a community of true believers. Luckily for Naomi
Mburu ’18 — UMBC’s very first Rhodes Scholar — she has all three.
To read her resume, and to sense the shining future ahead of her, it would be easy to guess that Naomi Mburu was born an academic star. And, to a certain extent that is true.
In her senior year of studying chemical engineering, UMBC’s first
Rhodes Scholar is predictably a whiz in the classroom and the lab. She’s
also generous and patient, serving as a mentor to fellow engineering
students and Meyerhoff Scholars, and a natural leader, exuding a quiet
confidence beyond her years.
But, what makes Mburu special — and what has made her successful — is
not some innate key to knowledge unattainable to others, but a deep
desire to question the world around her, and the support system of
family, professors, and friends at UMBC and elsewhere who have stoked
and nurtured that flame from her earliest years.
As Mburu finishes out her final semester at UMBC, her packed schedule
reflects the magnitude of her academic achievements — from an
invitation to Washington, D.C., to hear the State of the Union Address,
to a standing ovation at UMBC’s first basketball game in its new Event
Center.
Amid all of the attention and interviews about the Rhodes, she and
her family also continue to mourn the loss of her older brother,
Nicholas, who unexpectedly passed away following a car accident just
after the winter holiday. The loss shook them all, while also
strengthening the bonds of her family and their local Kenyan community.
To handle so much takes strength, poise, and a true sense of self. One of her biggest fans, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski — who told the Washington Post he cried upon hearing the news of her award in November — has watched her adjust these past months.
“What’s so impressive about Naomi is that she is as grounded as
ever,” he said. “One senses her humility and authenticity in that great
smile. She talks comfortably about the research that she’s done, about
her future in England in nuclear engineering. She shows us the true
Renaissance spirit.”
And in so many ways, this is just the beginning.
* * * * *
Over in the student apartments, Naomi Mburu ruins a pot of noodles.
It’s true: UMBC’s very first winner of
“the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship awards in the
world,” as defined by Rhodes, is still a bit wobbly with her cooking.
She’s working on it, though, especially since hearing mixed reactions
about the food options in England.
In the fall, she’ll continue her
education in the Oxford lab of Dr. Peter Ireland studying heat transfer
applications for nuclear fusion reactors. Over the summer, she’ll visit
family in Kenya, and travel to Lindau, Germany, for an invitation-only
Nobel conference. And in this, her final semester, where in addition to
taking a full course load, she’s also TA-ing and coaching Lakeland
Elementary students in math, and traveling many weekends for the
National Society of Black Engineers, she’s also fielding media
interviews, giving speeches — the whole nine yards.
Amid it all, she knows her weaknesses, and works to strengthen herself. Amid it all, she’s figuring out the noodles.
* * * * *
“She
had to find herself. I think she knew she was intelligent, but she had
to dig deep and see how much potential she had. Funny enough, sometimes
it takes a math class for you to see it.” — Douraine Donaldson (left),
with Naomi and fellow Mount Hebron High School teacher Mary Ann Sankey.
The Early Bird
As a kid, Mburu struggled with math. Like so many, she just “didn’t
get it.” But instead of complaining, and instead of letting her studies
lag, she got up extra early each day to meet with her teacher Mary Ann Sankey, who was in at 6 a.m. to start setting up for class.
Together, they hashed out the numbers. Even though she had no idea of
what she’d be studying five years later, Mburu somehow already knew
that math would be the key to so much more. In her teachers at Mount
Hebron High School and beyond, she found people who not only believed in
her, but pushed her to challenge herself.
“Naomi came in before school started, and she was into it,
wholeheartedly,” said Sankey. “She didn’t just want to know what the
answer was, but how and why it was working. It’s a wonderful thing to
see in a student.”
As a little girl, Mburu had a few jobs in mind for herself: inventor,
spy, or pediatrician (although she ditched the last idea when she
realized she hated blood). As her teachers broadened her view of what
was possible, they also helped her shape her questions and her study
habits.
When Douraine Donaldson, Mburu’s AP Calculus teacher
recently heard President Hrabowski mention the word “grit” in a speech,
she immediately thought of her former student, who she recalls never
shied away from asking anything.
“I saw that level of determination as it was starting to emerge…you
know, the no-fear attitude, the ability to question and wonder why, and
push the boundaries,” said Donaldson, who described Mburu as a center of
inquiry, drawing other students in to discuss a range of topics. “I
think it really started to emerge in her junior year. And by the time
Naomi graduated, she was just ready to take it on and challenge things
even more.”
“One
of the great things about Naomi is that she’s going to be a person that
a lot of other young women and young black women look at as a role
model and success story. I think she’s going to inspire a lot of
people.” — Lee Blaney, associate professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering
As she began to figure out what types of work she enjoyed, Mburu knew
she wanted to get into a lab environment. As a junior in high school,
she attended an admissions event at UMBC where she met now-retired
professor of biological sciences Lasse Lindahl, who offered her a position in his lab that summer.
“There were a ton of freshmen in the lab and juniors, and they didn’t
treat me any differently” as a high schooler, she said. “I had to read a
lot for the first couple of weeks to understand what was going on, but
after I had my grounding, they let me run experiments.” By the end of
the summer, she was invited to present at the Summer Undergraduate
Research Festival with her college-level colleagues — an experience that
helped her get over a fear of talking about her work, she said.
It wasn’t long before Mburu was a freshman at UMBC, figuring out her next steps with the help of a new cast of teachers.
Unsure of her major choice and looking for more hands-on experience, she approached Gymama Slaughter,
associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering,
during her freshman year, and left the meeting with a permanent spot on
Slaughter’s team. In that role, the lone undergraduate chemical engineer
among graduate-level researchers, Mburu learned quickly to stretch
herself as a questioner and communicator.
“She’s a go-getter, she always hits the ground running, and she’s
never afraid of whatever you’re going to give her…she’s excited and
ready to do it,” said Slaughter, who has encouraged Mburu to follow her
imagination in terms of what she studies, and has watched her student
learn as much from her missteps as her successes.
“We all do fail miserably at times,” laughed Slaughter. “It’s
important to allow students to fail rather than give them the answer all
time…or they’re not really learning. It’s nice when a student like
Naomi comes to you and says, ‘I read this, and I think this will work
for us’…and I say: ‘Sure. Let’s try it.’”
Even in college, some old habits die hard. When she had trouble wrapping her head around a concept in Lee Blaney’s
class on chemical manufacturing type processes, Mburu showed up early
for office hours — and stayed for a full hour and a half, he said.
“I could tell that if I had to call the office hours closed and not
get to that closure point with her, that it would drive her crazy,” said
Blaney, an associate professor of chemical, biochemical and
environmental engineering. “She wouldn’t give up on it.”
Both professors agreed she has the spark to take her work far — both
as a researcher and as someone who can change the face of science.
“It’s a wonderful and a fulfilling feeling to see somebody that works
with you is able to make such huge leaps in their own academic career,
and I think that having the Rhodes and having the opportunity to go to
Oxford and work with people from all around the world is wonderful,”
said Slaughter. “I am simply overjoyed.”
“She
has great relationships with other students in the lab. We all joke
that we want to be like Naomi. It’s true.” — Gymama Slaughter, associate
professor of computer science and electrical engineering
* * * * *
Last year, Naomi willingly enlisted in a
10-mile race called the Tough Mudder — an obstacle course filled with
pits to cross, walls to climb, and mud as far as the eye can see. She
and her friends came out of it covered from head to toe in dirt, tired
but smiling like crazy.
If life is a race, Naomi is cool with
it. She’s one of those people who genuinely loves the rush of air into
the lungs. Running clears the mind, and keeps her level.
And if life is an obstacle course, she’s more than prepared for whatever challenges may come.
* * * * *
Keys To Success
The process of applying for the Rhodes Scholarship is nothing close
to easy. It involves writing multiple essays, asking for up to eight
letters of recommendation, and participating in a series of increasingly
pressure-filled interviews spanning a range of knowledge beyond one’s
chosen field.
On the roof of the Administration Building with Dr. April Householder ’95, director of undergraduate research.
So, last August, when Mburu told April Householder ’95,
director of undergraduate research and head of UMBC’s then-brand-new
office of prestigious scholarships, she wanted to apply for all three of
the UK’s top prizes (the Rhodes, the Gates Cambridge, and the
Marshall), Householder admits her first thought was, “You’re crazy.”
But Mburu pushed on, taking Householder’s challenge to think it over
seriously. The following week, she returned to the office, paperwork in
hand, ever more determined to get it done. In the weeks that followed,
Mburu worked with Householder and staff in other campus offices to get
her applications ready, practice mock interviews, and — in short — train
for the marathon that is prestigious scholarship competition.
“One of the things that made her successful in this whole process is
that she took every opportunity that UMBC had on offer and she followed
through on it,” said Householder. And she did it so well that she
actually won all three awards (though she could accept only one).
“She knows her worth, she knows herself, she’s taken the time to really get to know what she’s capable of,” said Jackie King,
associate director of the MARC*U*STAR Program, in which Mburu
participates. “So I was not surprised when she said, ‘I won the Rhodes.’
I said, ‘Of course you did.’”
Outside of the Rhodes, and despite the newness of UMBC’s specialized
office, the university has a solid history of success with prestigious
scholarships. In previous years, staff in the Honors College and
elsewhere have coached applicants, many of whom have gone on to win the
top UK prizes, as well as Fulbrights, Goldwaters, and others. (See “Serious Scholarship”.)
Simon Stacy, director of the Honors College, who has
worked with a number of them over the years says that while many
applicants to these top scholarships nationwide come from the Ivies —
and with years of grooming for just such situations — UMBC students come
to the table with grit and the willingness to quickly learn how to play
the game.
“Naomi is open and self-confident, which I think is absolutely
crucial for the Rhodes process because everybody is accomplished by the
time they get to an interview, and an awful lot depends on the ability
of an applicant to connect with the interviewers and to represent
themselves as effective leaders — as someone like Naomi can,” he said.
“Her ability to make herself known in a way that does her credit without
seeming self-aggrandizing is such a striking thing.”
Add to that the four years of support and fellowship she’s received
as part of the acclaimed Meyerhoff Scholars Program — which stands at
the forefront of efforts to increase diversity among future leaders in
science, technology, engineering, and related fields — and you can see
how the community has truly stood behind her efforts. It’s a place where
“we are all looking out for each other,” Mburu says.
“We always tell students there’s no limit to what they can do if they
work hard, as long as they do their part to hold up a high personal
standard of excellence,” said Keith Harmon, director of the Meyerhoff
program. “The talent is here.”
* * * * *
Where do you find your strength?
For Naomi, it’s a combination of things:
It’s her family and friends, who keep her grounded, who bring her joy.
It’s the Kenyan community in and around her neighborhood experiencing
the highs and lows of life together. And — above all — it’s her
spirituality, her faith in God, that pushes her through the tough times.
“It’s a big part of who I am,” she says of her Christianity, her parents nodding beside her.
* * * * *
“We all have a mission in this world, and it’s great when you can find yours.” — Joyce Mburu (center), at home with Naomi and father, Joseph.
Those Most Dear
At the very beginning of Mburu’s journey are Joseph and Joyce Mburu,
her parents, who emigrated from Kenya in the 1980s. Kind and
hardworking, they fell in love while students at the University of
Baltimore, both earning multiple graduate degrees as they built a family
with Naomi and her older brother, Nicholas, a 2016 financial economics
alumnus.
In their comfortable home, mother and daughter wear matching
bracelets woven to spell the word “Kenya.” As the parents have infused a
love of their heritage and spirituality in their daughter, so have they
nurtured a deep desire to learn.
Joyce’s parents were both teachers, and her father was a pastor;
Joseph’s father was a businessman who wasn’t able to go to college, so
“going to college was very important to him, and he did the best he
could to send us to the best schools,” he said.
A family photo with brother Nicholas, who passed away in January.
They try to be supportive without babying her, they laugh. When she
started exploring prestigious scholarship options, they stood by her —
even giving her a subscription to The Economist for Christmas to expand her world view — knowing full well a win would take their daughter to the other side of the Atlantic.
“You have to step away, but keep a watchful eye,” said Joseph. “You
let her find her way — because that’s how they grow. That’s how they
develop.”
“We are so proud of her,” agreed Joyce, who for years worked in the
business office at UMBC and was able to be close to both of her children
as they attended school.
When her brother, Nicholas, passed away in January, the family was
comforted by the close-knit Kenyan community, both in Maryland and afar.
But Naomi found herself dealing with an uncomfortable imbalance between
the best and worst pieces of news of her life.
“I was flipping between those two emotions all the time — the extreme
happiness about winning the scholarship, and then the sadness of him
not being here,” she said, adding that he had looked forward to being
interviewed for this article.
Through it all, Mburu’s friends have also proven a powerful positive
force in her life, offering emotional support, laughter, late night
snacks, and unflinching love. Her friend Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman,
a math and econ major, uses the words of King Solomon to describe their
friendship: “As iron sharpens iron, so does one sharpen another.”
The night Mburu found out she won the Rhodes, Anna and friends
scooped her up and took her for her favorite meal — Kabab Hut — and some
delicious Korean bakery treats. As they chowed down, her roommates and
neighbors in the Hillside Apartments pulled together a surprise party
for when she returned, complete with confetti, cake, and about a
thousand hugs.
“They have all been just super, super, super supportive of everything
I’ve done,” Mburu said of her friends. “We’re not competing necessarily
against each other; we’re more so trying to make sure we’re getting
better together.”
In fact, many of them played key roles in her Rhodes journey,
providing serious feedback on her essays, and tossing potential
interview questions back and forth between them. One of those people was
Adrian Davey, who befriended Mburu the summer before their freshman year.
“I jumped with joy and yelled in my room,” he said, out of joy for his friend.
“The icing on the cake is that through it all, she remains humble,” said Olanike Awotunde, another friend from the Meyerhoff program.
“My
friends have all been super, super, super supportive of everything I’ve
done, helping me all the way.” – Naomi Mburu. Above, Naomi with Anna
Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Olanike Awotunde. Below left: With friend Adrian
Davey at the 2017 National Society of Black Engineers Fall Regional
Conference in Greensboro, NC. At right: With friend Olanike Awotunde at
the surprise party following Naomi’s Rhodes announcement.
* * * * *
The night UMBC opened its new Event
Center, the seats were packed with fans. On the sidelines, behind the
video cameras, Naomi stood waiting for her cue, decked out in a black
t-shirt with gold paws across the front.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, UMBC Athletics
would like to offer a special welcome to Naomi Mburu, the first Rhodes
Scholar in UMBC History!” As she walks to the center of the court, the
crowd erupts in applause and a full-on standing ovation, cheering
wildly.
This is a very UMBC moment, and Naomi is very much a UMBC star.
* * * * *
The Big Picture
Speaking to a group of high schoolers from Baltimore City this
spring, Mburu fields a common question: “Have you ever felt like you
couldn’t do something?
“I guess sometimes it seems like, ‘Oh, this person’s never failed at
anything, but I fail at things all the time,’” she reflects. “I really
enjoy talking to them at their level and explaining that I struggle with
things all the time. I’ve failed tests before…I still fail tests.”
This one-on-one is a huge part of who Mburu is, and who she hopes to
be for others. Besides studying nuclear fission and trying to solve the
energy crisis for future generations — no biggie, right? — she’s also
hoping to act as a positive role model, just as so many of her teachers
have for her.
“There are so many people who have helped me along the way,” she
says. “I think it’s really important for people who aren’t in science to
understand what’s going on in the scientific world — especially young
people who are deciding what they want to do, because sometimes it can
seem like a hurdle that they can’t surpass if they’ve never even had
anyone to talk to about science in a way that they understood.”
Speaking of relatability, Mburu found out some exciting news about
her new lab at Oxford: She’ll actually be the second Kenyan woman Rhodes
there.
“I sent her an email and she emailed me back instantly,” she said, smiling. “I’m so excited.”
Soon she will be packing for her summer travels, and figuring out a
new life in England. As she reflects on the last half a year, and thinks
about all that lies ahead, she feels good. She’s on the right track.
“Sometimes it’s been exhausting having to go from thing to thing to
thing, but I really enjoy what I’m doing,” she says. “I get excited to
think that someone would think that my story is inspirational, and they
could do the same thing, it it makes it all worth it.”
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