At only 27 years old, George Bukenya (GRS ’23, medical physiology) has made impacts in brain tumor research at Cleveland Clinic, led community development efforts at Case Western Reserve University and dedicated himself to mentoring younger students in the Cleveland area.
At the November 2024 African American Alumni Association (AAAA) Awards Celebration, Bukenya received the Rising Star Award for his work in researching novel therapies for glioblastoma, reinstating the Case Western Reserve chapter of the NAACP and mentoring Provost Scholars students.
As a graduate assistant for Janice Eatman-Williams, director of the FOCUS Group school-based outreach in the CWRU Division of Student Affairs, Bukenya learned that the university once had an NAACP chapter—and he was inspired to bring it back. With Eatman-Williams’ guidance and collaboration with the city of Cleveland’s chapter, Bukenya made it a reality in 2024. He took pride in “hearing the whispers of people hearing that it was coming back,” and students reaching out to ask about it.
Bukenya also collaborated with Faye Gary—the Medical Mutual Ohio Kent W. Clapp Chair and Professor of Nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing—to mentor East Cleveland City Schools students participating in the Provost Scholars Program. He especially enjoys witnessing the coming together of program alumni at the program’s annual reunion and hearing their stories: “It pushes me further—to do the best that I can be—so that I can give back even more to them and help them on their journeys.”
A first-generation American, Bukenya has spent time in his parents’ native Uganda often since childhood. This aspect of his upbringing and identity has shaped his service mindset.
Bukenya said being able to return Uganda has given him a unique perspective: “To see discrimination in a different way and then come back here and see it manifest differently—but still be under the same guise—I just always made sure that wherever I went, I tried to be of service to somebody.
And receiving the award from AAAA reinforced to him that he was on the right path and hopes to see other young alumni begin to lead the organization and take it to new levels.