Senior Earns TBP Scholarship

A University of Kansas student from Nairobi, Kenya, received top recognition from a prestigious engineering organization.

Angela Ndhuya Oguna, who will be a senior this fall in electrical engineering, is one of the 102 undergraduate students from around the nation to be named a Tau Beta Pi Scholar for the 2010-11 academic year.

The recognition from the engineering honor society comes with a $2,000 scholarship. Students are recognized for “high scholarship, campus leadership and service, and promise of future contributions to the engineering profession.”

Oguna is a mentor to incoming freshmen as an ambassador for the School of Engineering, is active in the KU chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and has clear plans to contribute to the engineering profession after graduation.

“I’m looking for a career that will not limit me to living in the developed world,” Oguna said. “I want something in a field that I can go and apply back home. I know that renewable energy is big everywhere, so I’m eventually hoping to return home, it might not be Kenya specifically, but somewhere in Africa or Asia. I want to be able to help those of us who are still in the developing world to narrow that gap between us and developed nations.”

As incoming president of KU’s National Society of Black Engineers, Oguna is able to lead by example for younger students.

“It’s been wonderful to get involved,” Oguna said. “It’s nice to be able to tell someone, ‘You can make it, it’s not impossible to make it to graduation and walk down the Hill.’”

Oguna also received a Record Scholarship from Tau Beta Pi, named for Leroy E. Record, a 1929 graduate of KU. She was selected from a field of nearly 400 applicants from the some of the most prestigious colleges in the nation.

“We are extremely proud of Angela’s accomplishments in the classroom,” said Stuart Bell, dean of the School of Engineering. “She is among the best engineering students in the country and her leadership on campus is exemplary. We are confident she will have a successful career in the engineering industry.”

Oguna said the $2,000 scholarship for being named a Tau Beta Pi Scholar will go a long way toward helping her get through her senior year.

“I’m a self-supporting student, so every dollar counts,” Oguna said. “This takes off some of the pressure, so hopefully I can enjoy my last year even more.”