Professor’s Mentees Talk About His Impact on Their Lives 

Bronx Community College (BCC) and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) Physics Professor Eugene Stephane Mananga – once a CUNY City College, Hunter College, and Graduate Center student himself who came from Cameroon not knowing any English – has received the Presidential Award for Science Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) Mentoring, administered by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).   

This Presidential award, the highest honor for an educator, recognizes individuals and organizations that have contributed outstanding efforts in mentoring and enhanced STEM participation of those who might not otherwise have considered or had access to related disciplines and professions.  

“Mentoring is very powerful, and It’s the best way to have an impact on society,” said Mananga, whose education also includes graduate, doctoral degrees and postdoctoral training from Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital and MITx.  “I am so honored to have been selected for this prestigious award, and I know that I am helping to inspire students who would otherwise not be exposed to the STEM fields or have the opportunities they now have.”  

As a Presidential Awardee, Professor Mananga will receive a certificate signed by the President of the United States and a $10,000 award from the NSF.  He also will be recognized, along with 23 other honorees, at an award ceremony in Washington, D.C. this spring.  

Professor Mananga, the former Deputy Executive of the CUNY Academy for Humanities and Sciences and current Program Director of STEM for the CUNY Academy, has been teaching at both BCC and the CUNY Graduate Center since 2015 and has won numerous awards for his research and published articles.  

In addition to his CUNY faculty appointments, Dr. Mananga is an Adjunct Professor of Applied Physics at New York University, a fellow at KAVLI Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California Santa Barbara, and a fellow of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Visiting Faculty Program at Brookhaven National Laboratory.  During his time at BCC, Professor Mananga has facilitated internship opportunities for students at Brookhaven, the Department of Energy, and other national laboratories.  

Three of Professor Mananga’s student mentees joined him recently for an interview he had on campus with News 12. They spoke about how Professor Mananga inspired and motivated them to do their best work.  

Richard Ametepey, who graduated BCC in 2017 and went on to get his Masters in Computer Science at Lehman College, is now working as a computer science professional and going for a Ph.D. He recalls the lessons of perseverance Professor Mananga imparted. “I connected with him, being that we were both from Africa. I had come from Ghana in 2010. He told me stories about himself and said if I pushed a little bit, I could create a better life like him,” Ametepey said. “He gave me the confidence to do it despite working full time and attending classes full time. I conducted research and wrote articles at record speed.” 

Current BCC student Leslie Jimenez worked with Professor Mananga as her mentor for two years, meeting twice monthly. She will graduate this semester in Physics and feels forever grateful to have benefited from Professor Mananga’s guidance.  And mentee Erika Lopez, also still a student at BCC, talks about the role Professor Mananga played in helping her not be afraid to fail. “He saw potential in me beyond my academics. As part of an underrepresented group, he prepared me with everything I need to succeed. He helped me learn that doing research allows my curiosity to peak,” she said. 

Lopez currently works on the clinical side at a cancer center, but plans to return to the research end.  Although her two-year mentorship with Professor Mananga concluded in 2023, Lopez said she takes great comfort in knowing the relationship didn’t end when the mentorship ended. “I can text him anytime on anything in the field I have questions about, and he’ll get right back to me,” she added. 

In his spare time, Professor Mananga enjoys watching boxing, listening to music and eating seafood. He looks forward to attending the awards ceremony this spring with his family. Awardees also join a national cohort of award-winning mentors, providing opportunities to impact mentoring on a national scale. The award announcement and scheduling of the recognition ceremony is determined by the White House OSTP.