Qudus Lawal
Chemical Engineering
Hostos Student Ambassador

Honors Program

Qudus LawalQudus Lawal was born in Nigeria, West Africa in 1990 and grew up there with his six siblings until his father, who was already living in the United States decided to move the rest of his family here in 2008 after Qudus finished high school. Qudus is the brother of Hostos Student Ambassador Jubril Lawal, who in fall of 2008 had the rare opportunity to go to the site of the former World Trade Center to read the names of those who were lost in 2001. Qudus was also in attendance that day and was inspired by what he saw his brother and others do that day and he has made a concerted effort to be a great leader himself.

Qudus began his studies at Hostos in that fall of 2008 and was immediately recruited into the Honors Program in the spring of 2009. Qudus is studying Chemical Engineering because he is fascinated by science and the value of green technology and he hopes to make an impact upon the world by developing some new technologies of his own. Qudus was the treasurer of the Science Club in fall 2009 and the President in spring 2010. The Science Club organized a trip to Yankee Stadium to explore the dynamics of the new stadium and the belief that it was an easy place to hit homeruns. Qudus also loves literature and he is constantly looking for people who will debate him on a variety of topics from the Greeks to Mark Twain or Shakespeare.

Qudus LawalQudus joined the Hostos Leadership Academy in the fall of 2009 and committed to doing service in the community. He participated at the National Day of Service on 9-11 this year, living up to his aspirations to make a difference in the world. He has also participated in a variety of activities on and off campus to improve the lives of the people living in the Bronx and around the City. He attended a Leadership Themed Conferences at LaGuardia Community College and the Somos El Futuro Conference in Albany. He also presented a paper at the CUNY Pipeline Conference at the Graduate Center in February of 2010.

In the spring of 2010, Qudus was interviewed for both the Kaplan Educational Foundation Leadership Program (and Scholarship) as well as the Malave Leadership Program. He was selected to be part of the fifth cohort of scholars to study with Kaplan. As a apart of this program, Qudus receives $3,000 a year along with a stipend to pursue his studies at Hostos. He will also be eligible for receiving 20,000 dollars a year to pursue his education at any college around the country that he would like to study at and is accepted to study at.

Qudus Lawal Qudus currently has a GPA of 4.0 and he has done an internship at The City College of New York, where he did research on the synthesis and characterization of organic nanocrystals. He valued this internship, because of the relevant value of nanocrystals to our current society as they represent the creation of new technologies that will help in the conservation of energy and overall reduction of green house gasses.

Qudus has also given testimony before the CUNY Board of Trustees and will sit on the search committee for a new Vice President of Student Development of Enrollment Management. Qudus is also a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society.

Also, as a result of his participation in the Leadership and Honors programs, Qudus was granted the opportunity to do a study abroad in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico last summer. The research which Qudus did over the summer was presented as a poster at New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation Conference in fall 2010.

For more information about the Kaplan Program and Scholarship, please visit: http://www.kaplanedfoundation.org

Qudus Lawal has been selected to be the 2011 Spring Graduation Valedictorian.

Qudus Lawal has been accepted at Syracuse University, University of Rochester, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Case Western Reserve University.

Qudus Lawal has been accepted to attend Stanford University to study Chemical Engineering for Fall 2011.