Diversity Highlights
Diversity & Student Success Featured Scholars
Explore participant scholars from all the DSS initiatives.
Initiative for Minority Excellence Featured Scholar – Austin Vo
Austin H. Vo is a doctoral student in sociology. He is from Austin, Texas, and earned his bachelor’s degree in statistics from Williams College in 2018. He is interested in the diverse set of tools offered by research methodology and uses a sociological perspective to ask questions about how immigrants are politicized. He enjoys running ...
Military-Affiliated Grads Featured Scholar
Justin Tucker is a master’s student in education. He grew up in Queens and Gordon Heights, N.Y., and received his master’s degree in higher education from Stony Brook University, where his academic work focused on strategies to improve black male graduation and retention rates. “I am very passionate about education as a vehicle for change ...
Global Grads Featured Scholar – Gustavo Mahn
Gustavo Mahn is a third-year resident in operative dentistry within the UNC Adams School of Dentistry. He was born and raised in Chile, and earned his DDS degree and received his Prosthodontics Specialty Certificate from the University of Chile. After graduation, he had a private dental practice and taught part-time in Chile before moving to ...
Carolina Grad Student F1RSTS Featured Scholar – Metika Ngbokoli
Metika Ngbokoli is a third-year doctoral student in the Behavioral and Integrative Neuroscience Program. “In addition to my research, I am passionate about science outreach and want to help increase the visibility of women of color in STEM.” She serves as a Graduate Student Fellow with the Center for Faculty Excellence and is co-chair of ...
Initiative for Minority Excellence Featured Scholar – Terika McCall
Terika McCall is a Ph.D. candidate in the Carolina Health Informatics Program. She earned her master of public health degree in health behavior and health education from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor in 2010, and her master of business administration degree in management from Wake Forest University in 2016. She is a National ...
Military-Affiliated Grads Featured Scholar – J. Cliff Keller
J. Cliff Keller is a doctoral student in political science, studying how intervention by powerful countries can shape the course and conclusion of insurgency and civil war. He is originally from Tennessee but spent the majority of 20 years in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg, N.C. He also holds a master of Defense Analysis ...
Global Grads Featured Scholar – Siri Nallaparaju
Siri Nallaparaju is a master’s student in city and regional planning, with a concentration in environmental issues. She is from Hyderabad, India, and received her bachelor’s degree in urban planning from the School of Planning and Architecture in India in 2018. “I intend to become an urban ecologist someday, with a focus on sustainable planning ...
Initiative for Minority Excellence Featured Scholar – Aliosha Barranco Lopez
Aliosha Barranco Lopez Aliosha is a doctoral student in philosophy. She has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in philosophy, both from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She is originally from Mexico City. What made you choose UNC-Chapel Hill when deciding on a program/place to study? First of all, UNC has one of the best philosophy departments ...
Carolina Grad Student F1RSTS Featured Scholar – Yasmin Barrios
Yasmin V. Barrios is a doctoral candidate in epidemiology in UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. She earned her master of public health degree from the University of Washington, with a focus on community-oriented public health practice. Her international public health research experience includes running two large studies in Lima, Peru. She is ...
Military-Affiliated Grads Featured Scholar – Annamaria Vesely
Annamaria Vesely, a master’s student in public health, was in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in management. “My career has spanned many fields and now I seek to continue a legacy of service by striving to improve the nutrition and public health ...