THE RECORD
Sonya Neal ’ 07
Stu Brody
Willie Brown
BIOSCI AT 60 :
MENTORSHIP , THEN & NOW
A look back , and ahead , at student support .
Don Helinski
BY MARIO C . AGUILERA ’ 89
MENTORSHIP MEANS a lot to Willie Brown — the professor emeritus of cell and developmental biology credits his life ’ s path to a series of pivotal mentors throughout his journey , starting in the days of segregation . He paid this help forward in his career , serving as a devoted and longstanding mentor to generations of UC San Diego students . The same goes today for Sonya Neal ’ 07 — mentorship was critical to her success as a UC San Diego student and recently in joining the faculty in biology . She too is compelled to help others , as uncertainty and strife in 2020 prompted her to launch a bold new mentorship program that aims to shape scores of students ’ lives .
As the Division of Biological Sciences celebrates its 60 th anniversary , Brown and Neal discuss mentorship as a foundation of strength in their lives and a force to support students through the next 60 years .
What did mentorship look like when you were students ? BROWN : My mentors set very strong examples for scholarship — they were clear about expectations , and they were good human beings as well . This was during the time of segregation and it was rough to go forward and get a job , and they knew that . But if you were serious , your professors took a lot of interest in you and made sure that you stayed on the right track . I have found over the years mentorship often comes down to three things — access , advocacy , and personal support — that make the most difference for a student .
NEAL : I was a first-generation URM ( underrepresented minority ) student of mixed race — Black and Japanese . Just from sheer background alone , I was already at a disadvantage compared to a lot of my peers . I came here unprepared , but through some chance encounters and the right outreach programs , my mentors involved me in research and told me about grad school . I wouldn ’ t have taken that path without such guidance .
I was a single parent through grad school , helped very much by my mentor . Then , as a post-doc applying to become faculty , imposter syndrome was just bleeding inside me . Without my mentor , Professor Randy Hampton , I don ’ t think I ’ d have overcome that feeling . I just started building out a luminary team of mentors . To this day , I still use that resource .
Sonya , you and graduate student Tara Spencer launched the new Biology Undergraduate and Master ’ s Mentorship Program , or BUMMP . How did that start ? NEAL : It stemmed from recent events , the racial unrest and the pandemic on top of that . I remember the day this past June — I came into the lab to put away an unsuccessful experiment and felt like I needed to talk to someone right then .
14 TRITON | WINTER 2021