A brilliant woman, Shamaria Engram has set a new record at the University of South Florida, Florida, United States after emerging as the first-ever black woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the university.
Shamaria Engram who fought hard to earn her degree at a time there was a pandemic all over the world achieved the feat to erase the over 40 years old record of the institution. The University of South Florida announced her exceptional through their official social media handles.
“Shamaria Engram is making University of South Florida history as the first Black woman to graduate with a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering,” the university posted on Twitter.
Engram started her university education at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida where she graduated outstandingly with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering.
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Immediately after her Bachelor’s degree, she joined the University of South Florida and enrolled for two Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Computer Engineering. She earned a Masters of Science in Computer Science and a Masters of Science in Computer Science (MSCS) in Computer Engineering.
Engram proceeded to enrol for her PhD degree immediately after her Masters and finally made history as the first-ever black woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of South Florida.
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Engram says while there were moments that proved challenging as being the only Black woman in many of these rooms, she was determined to finish and obtain her degree to pursue the career of her dreams.
“That motivated me to keep on pushing. I can’t be the first one and stop. The Ph.D. is hard and with me being the only Black woman in this department, you don’t have a lot of people to talk to about your research that get you culturally,” she said in an interview with WFLA.
“I think it makes me work harder to get more people into this field that look like me because it’s definitely uncomfortable at this time.”
She hopes to inspire many other Black women to pursue their passions, no matter the field.
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