Amie Fornah Sankoh: First Deaf Black Woman To Earn STEM PhD In US Opens Up About Her Achievement

Amie Fornah Sankoh: First Deaf Black Woman To Earn STEM PhD In US Opens Up About Her Achievement

  • Amie Fornah Sankoh has opened up about becoming the first deaf Black woman to bag a PhD in a STEM programme in the US
  • She graduated with a doctorate in Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • The trailblazer stated that she intends to lead by example, set high standards, and work hard to inspire people with big aspirations

Trailblazer Amie Fornah Sankoh has opened up about making remarkable history after earning a doctorate degree in the United States of America (USA).

She recently became the first deaf Black woman to earned a Scientific, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in the US.

Photos of Amie Fornah Sankoh.
First deaf Black woman to earn PhD in STEM in the US speaks about her achievement. Photo credit: @AfricaFactsZone.
Source: Twitter

According to Chemistry World, Sankoh officially graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, earning her PhD from the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology.

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How Amie Fornah Sankoh feels about the achievement

In an interview with YEN.com.gh about how she felt about the accomplishment, she said:

"I feel incredibly proud to obtain my PhD in biochemistry and cellular & molecular biology. Getting to this point's taken a lot of hard work and dedication, but it's all been worth it," she told YEN.com.gh.

Sankoh said she has accomplished something significant and is excited to see where this success will take her. The history-maker is grateful for the achievement.

''I'm just really grateful for the opportunity to pursue my goals and positively impact the world.''

Growing up deaf in Africa, she had no childhood or girlhood ambitions because she thought she was incapable of learning because the educational system in Africa did not provide the necessary support for teaching deaf students, she said.

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''Even when I moved to the USA at 12, I faced numerous challenges that I overcame. These challenges led me to imagine a future I never thought possible,'' Sankoh tells YEN.com.gh.

Amie Fornah Sankoh to support people with her milestone

After making herself and her family proud, she plans to lead by example, set high standards, put in the work, and be a supportive mentor to inspire others with big dreams.

Sankoh tells YEN.com.gh that she would encourage those around her to see their potential and confidently go after their dreams.

Lady becomes first Black person to earn doctorate degree in anthropology from university in US

Amie is not the person to be the first black person to attain a feat in education in 2023. Tina Lasisi, a brilliant lady also celebrated her feat of graduating with a doctoral degree from Pennsylvania State University in the United States.

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In a Twitter post, Tina Lasisi (@TinaLasisi) said her name has been engraved in the university by becoming the first Black student to receive a PhD in Anthropology from Penn State.

In her post, Tina added a photo of herself in her academic getup.

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Source: YEN.com.gh

Authors:
Nathaniel Crabbe avatar

Nathaniel Crabbe (Human-Interest editor) Nathaniel Crabbe is a journalist and editor with a degree in Journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism, where he graduated in 2015. He earned his master's from UPSA in December 2023. Before becoming an editor/writer of political/entertainment and human interest stories at Asaase Radio, Crabbe was a news reporter at TV3 Ghana. With experience spanning over ten years, he now works at YEN.com.gh as a human interest editor. You can reach him via nathaniel.crabbe@yen.com.gh.