Azamian to Pursue Research Goals Through Rhodes

Student Scholar
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Azamian to Pursue Research Goals Through Rhodes

BY DANA DURBIN
Rice News Staff
Jan. 14, 1998

It would seem that the rigorous Rhodes Scholarship interview process would be stressful for a college senior. But Rice biophysics major Bobby Azamian took it all in stride as he went through three interviews on the local, state and regional levels.

The way he figured it, he’d be fortunate either way. If he won a Rhodes Scholarship, he’d head to Oxford; if he didn’t, medical school was in his future.

As it turned out, Bobak Robert Azamian did win a Rhodes Scholarship, making him the third Rice student in three years to win the prestigious award. After graduating in May, Azamian will head to England in October, where he’ll enter a two- to three-year program at Oxford University to obtain a master’s degree.

“I’m thrilled to have won the scholarship,” Azamian, a member of Hanszen College, said. “Surprisingly, during the whole process I really wasn’t too nervous. I felt I had nothing to lose.”

At Oxford, Azamian intends to apply nanotechnology to medical science. At Rice, he has conducted research in nanotechnology–science at the molecular level–under the direction of Nobel Prize winner Richard Smalley, the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics.

Always interested in a medical career, Azamian realized while working with Smalley since ’97 that he wanted to do research in depth before attending medical school.

“Over the last two years as I worked with Dr. Smalley, I realized I was more interested in technology than biology or biochemistry,” he said. “I looked for ways to pursue my goals, and I thought the Rhodes Scholarship would give me the opportunity to do research.”

“Obviously, this is a great credit to him and what he’s become in this early stage in his life,” Smalley said. “I expect him to go very, very far,” Smalley said.

Azamian felt the most stress during the first interview of the Rhodes process, which had a committee of Rice faculty conducting individual interviews with all the Rhodes and Marshall scholarship applicants from the university.

Even though he felt he was not prepared well for that interview, Azamian went on to the state interview in Dallas. There he adopted his attitude that he would be lucky regardless of what happened. From there he went on to the regional interview, held in Houston.

“I felt lucky that the regional interview was in Houston. I just did my thing, went to my classes, until it was time for my interview,” he said.

Azamian stresses that it wasn’t just an individual effort on his part that enabled him to win the scholarship. “The award is really a team effort and Rice deserves a lot of credit, for doing things like providing students the opportunity to work with professors like Dr. Smalley. One of the great things about Rice is that there is a lot of research, but a small student body, so there are a lot of opportunities,” Azamian said.

Azamian also gives a great deal of credit to Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Mark Scheid.

“Dr. Scheid has been a big help,” he said. Azamian and the other applicants met weekly as a group with Scheid to prepare for the upcoming interviews. They were also allowed to review accounts of the process from past Rhodes applicants and winners.

During the interviews, Azamian said there was a “broad spectrum of questions. That’s where Dr. Scheid really helped. He’s been working with Rhodes applicants for about 10 years, so he really knows what type of questions may be asked.”

Scheid also speaks highly of Azamian. “Bobby makes a great Rhodes for Rice because, in addition to his personal qualities, he’s a great representative of many of the themes that characterize Rice today–internationalism, cutting-edge science, student leadership and a dedication to service,” Scheid said.

Azamian, a second-generation Iranian-American, graduated from Houston’s Cy-Fair High School. He drew on the support from his family members, who helped him prepare during the Thanksgiving break by conducting practice interviews.

Azamian is the chair of the University Court, the student-composed judicial body that handles nonacademic disciplinary matters. He has also been involved in Leadership Rice, a program designed to foster personal and leadership development.