Acclaimed American poet, educator, activist, and autobiographer, Maya Angelou, once said that in order to be an effective mentor, one must care. She went on to say that an effective mentor should care about what they know, and care about the person they are sharing it with.
A mentor is many different things on different days but is always endlessly interested in the quality of the learning experience and the well-being of their mentee. In short, they care.
It has been a long-standing tradition of the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program to pause each year to recognize an outstanding mentor among the many faculty members who serve the Program across the NIH, and at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Nominations for this honor come from those who are the fortunate recipients of outstanding mentoring – the mentees.
This year, this award recognized two Outstanding Mentors, Dr. Javed Khan and Professor Alex Bullock. They are leaders who are fiercely dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists, equipping them with the necessary tools to tackle humanity’s greatest health challenges.
David Cruz Walma nominated Professor Alex Bullock, of the University of Oxford, “as an outstanding mentor, leader, and scientist…. Prof. Bullock is known amongst all who work with him…. as a truly exceptional mentor. When I was first applying to the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars program in 2019, I contacted Professor Rob Gilbert and asked for his guidance in selecting an Oxford mentor. Professor Gilbert immediately replied that Prof. Bullock was one of the best supervisors/mentors in the department, and likely the entire University.”
David went on to say that “Prof. Bullock’s abilities as a mentor were evident from the start of my D.Phil. and were paramount in helping me push through early setbacks. Since that seemingly insurmountable setback in my D.Phil. career, I have solved the protein structure of a novel protein mutation implicated in a genetic syndrome (being published now), have published three other papers, and am on track to complete my DPhil studies on time (even with the pandemic and a physical lab building move that took away 4+ months of experiments), all due to Prof. Bullock’s guidance and positive attitude. I am not the only student who recognizes Prof. Bullock’s abilities as he oversees the most D.Phil. students of any supervisor in our department. On behalf of all of Prof. Bullock’s students, past and present, I nominated him for the 2022 Outstanding Mentor Award.”
Exceptional mentorship continues to be a cornerstone feature of the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program since its inception in 2001.
