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Smith Claims a Second Rhodes Scholar What Tariro Makadzange '97 learned from her Smith professors and peers and from what she calls "the achievements of Smithies before us who have done amazing things" did much to get her where she is today: completing her first year at Harvard Medical School and preparing to go to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Makadzange says that the accomplishments of Smith alumnae were a particular inspiration in that "they compel you to do likewise. You feel that there is a whole world of opportunities out there if you work hard, enjoy what you're doing and don't let any setbacks get you down." Makadzange, who is from Zimbabwe, will go to Oxford in October to begin three years of studying tropical medicine. "So many diseases that tend to affect Africans living in a tropical climate are not as well studied as they could be," she says, "especially by physicians with both the practical clinical and scientific skills to ask the appropriate questions and use the appropriate tools to tackle those questions." Makadzange is particularly interested in undertaking research on HIV/AIDS. After her time at Oxford she will go back to Harvard to complete medical school and her residency training before returning to Zimbabwe. Asked to name her greatest influences at Smith, Makadzange praises her adviser, biology professor Stylianos Scordilis, as "a brilliant man and very encouraging." He persuaded her to apply to the Johns Hopkins and Harvard medical schools although, she admits, "I never thought I'd get in." For his part, Scordilis sees Makadzange as "very focused, with an abiding, deep-seated belief that what she is doing will help her country." Hesitant to mention too many other influences for fear of leaving someone out, Makadzange says that among her other great teachers and role models were physics professors Malgorzata Pfabé and Piotr Decowski and Margaret Anderson and Richard Olivo of biological sciences. She also recalls that Samuel Black at the University of Massachusetts, with whom she did a special studies in parisitology, "had such great passion for research that it was infectious." Makadzange is the second Smith alumna to receive a Rhodes Scholarship. Angela Lwiindi Leila Hassan '94 of Zambia is currently studying development economics at Oxford on a Rhodes that she was awarded two years ago. The Rhodes Scholarship, initiated in 1902, is the oldest international fellowship. It provides generous financial support for two years of study, sometimes renewable for a third year, at Oxford. Recipients are expected to present both an outstanding academic record and evidence of significant potential for leadership and accomplishment. |
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