Tucson Region

UA triple major wins prestigious Brit scholarship

Itching to start his biochemistry research, Ajit Divakaruni couldn't even wait to finish his bachelor's degree. Divakaruni took a yearlong leave of absence before his senior year at the University of Arizona, securing research positions in labs at Cambridge University in England and Yale University. Practically unheard of, the research experience pushed him into competition for the Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarships awarded to U.S. scholars. Divakaruni is one of 40 Marshall Scholarship winners to be announced today. The scholarship, from the British government, pays for two years of graduate school at a British university. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is among the former Marshall Scholars. Divakaruni will return to Cambridge, back to the same lab he started out in as an undergraduate fish out of water. He plans on extending the award for a third year to finish a doctorate in biochemistry. "My year off was a lot harder than any of my years at the university," he said. "Professionally and personally, it was some of the most enriching time in my life. I really wanted to sink my teeth into something 100 percent." Taking a year of absence to pursue research "shows a grasp of the big picture that sets him apart from most students who focus on the here and now," said UA President Peter Likins. "He clearly is deliberately providing himself with a diversity of experiences that will benefit him in the long run," Likins said. The 22-year-old senior is a mathematics, biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology triple major at the UA and is set to become the university's first student ever to finish an honors thesis in three majors. "I'm really kind of at home in the lab," he said. Divakaruni spent two years researching in the physiology lab of UA professor Tim Secomb before he left for Cambridge, where he joined the lab of biochemist Martin Brand. There he studied regulatory proteins in the body's pathways where food is turned into energy. The proteins are attractive therapeutic targets for diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Scientists are starting to understand what the proteins do but haven't yet unraveled how they work. The proteins may also have an impact on harmful free radicals created in the body as part of the conversion of glucose to energy. After Cambridge, Divakaruni also studied proteins in the Center for Structural Biology lab at Yale, where he was the only one without a doctorate and faced a steep and difficult learning curve. At both universities, Divakaruni paid his own way out of money from the Flinn Scholarship, Arizona's top in-state award for high school seniors. Born in Minnesota, Divakaruni grew up in Scottsdale, graduating from Saguaro High School in 2001. His brother is studying for a Ph.D. in biochemistry at UCLA, his father is an electrical engineer, and his mother is an accountant. Divakaruni credits his professors for his success. Divakaruni entered college uncertain of what he'd like to study, but found his way through "fantastic mentors." "It's really a testament to how good this school is in helping people find what they're passionate about," he said. "I knew I liked science, but that's about it. "In retrospect, I can't see myself being as happy or passionate about my work if I'd gone someplace else." During his sophomore year, Divakaruni tutored at Rincon High School, and that summer he volunteered at Southwest Alternative High School. The next year, he had a fellowship with the Collaborative to Advance Teaching Technology and Science program and worked teaching math at the Ha:sañ Preparatory & Leadership School, a Tohono O'odham charter school. Divakaruni has proved himself with some of the world's leaders in his area of research, said Karna Walter, the UA's director of national and competitive scholarships. "He has a very strong academic and intellectual track record, but he also is the kind of person who's not in it just for that," she said. "He looks outside himself and sees his works as something that is for the greater good." The UA usually nominates one or two students for the Marshall Scholarship, and over the years, several have been finalists, but the university hasn't had a Marshall Scholar since 1996, when Ian Larkin won. "To me the most lasting part of the Marshall experience was being part of a real congregation of amazing postgraduates from all over the world," said Larkin, now a doctoral student at the University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business. Divakaruni's selection in the "furiously competitive" scholarship is encouraging, both for other students and faculty members, Likins said. "This guy has really covered the territory," Likins said. "His intellectual distinction just shouts at you."