Rhodes scholar has ties to Edinburg
EDINBURG — Shayak Sarkar understands charity is about more than just a smile and a caring heart — it’s about statistics, research and money.
As a student in the emerging field of evidence-based social intervention, Sarkar uses math to study whether good-intentioned social programs are actually living up to their expectations.
Sarkar, whose family lives in Edinburg, was one of 32 U.S. citizens awarded Rhodes Scholarships last week. The scholarships cover the cost of attending the University of Oxford in England and are considered one of the most prestigious academic scholarships in the world. Past winners include Supreme Court Justice David Souter, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and President Bill Clinton.
Sarkar, who did not attend high school in the Rio Grande Valley, graduated from Harvard University in June with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and a master’s degree in statistics. He is already working on a master’s degree at Oxford and expects to pursue a doctorate there as well.
Sarkar said he began the Rhodes application a few months ago and interviewed with a committee in Houston on Saturday. That night, he learned he won the award.
His parents came to visit his hotel room in Houston shortly thereafter, but fearing he may not have won, they didn’t ask about the result. Sarkar didn’t let them in on the good news immediately, but ultimately his mother, Jhuma, had to ask.
“He started smiling and said, ‘I got it,’” said Shayak’s father, Kamal, a mechanical engineering lecturer at the University of Texas-Pan American. “He started jumping up and saying, ‘Oh my God.’”
Sarkar’s parents are natives of Calcutta, a city in India known for its extreme poverty. He said his parents always told him that, with an education, he had a duty to try to make the world a more just place. His chosen field of study, evidence-based social intervention, looks at social programs to see whether they are actually serving their intended purpose.
While attending Harvard, Sarkar headed a student-run homeless shelter. For his senior thesis, he examined the effects of federal legislation passed in 1987 that sought to provide educational opportunities for homeless youth.
“The fact that we appropriate that much money every single year without knowing how effective it is … is a little disturbing,” Sarkar said.
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Ryan Holeywell covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.
