André Gianesini Odu Scholarship
Donation protected
Dear Friends of André,
André began driving out from Troy to Livermore California last week (April 25th) for a summer internship at the Lawrence Livermore National Labs. André’s career in academic research was something he was extremely passionate about, and this was a huge step in his dream pursuing impactful research in nuclear fusion and renewable energy. During his ride through Nevada, late Friday evening/early Saturday morning, he lost his life in a single-car crash.
André was very intense and a singularly motivated individual. When he decided that there was something worth pursuing, he would ‘go all in’. Mediocrity is something he was unwilling to ever accept. You could even tell this in the way he dressed; André had a carefully curated wardrobe and assortment of colognes that was selected to personify the future professor he was destined to become (Figure 1a). Beyond this, André was a very private individual; you will notice he does not have a Facebook, and was very selective about the people and activities he spent his time on. While André’s circle was small, he cared deeply for those within; if André called you his friend, this was a statement of fact and a credit to the value of your character. On the other hand, there were times if there was something he did not approve of, he would make it quite obvious with his very distinctive ‘concerned dad face’ (Figure 1b).
Over the past two years, I have had the unique privilege of becoming very close with André. Beyond finding out about his embarrassingly large collection of artisanal candles and love of being pampered with face masks while eating giant loafs of banana bread or entire trays of tiramisu, I have been able to first hand witness the tenacity and fierce loyalty he brings to his friendships (Figure 1 c-f). André died a young man at an early stage in his life, before he had a chance to build a family or make the great contributions to science that would have been part of his destiny. Since he is no longer with us, and no one else will have this opportunity, I want to share some pieces of his story. Besides the embarrassing stories, such as his pickup attempt at a coffee shop starting by telling a young lady that he “loved her nice chunky sweater”, my goal is to persuade you to help provide André a legacy, one he will not have the chance to build himself.
André has a unique story, some of which I learned during our conversations and helping him write a ‘New American’ Fellowship. His parents Giovanna and Michael, Italian and Nigerian immigrants, respectively, met after migrating to Florida in search for better lives. While being born in the US, he grew up between both Vincenza, Italy with his mother, and Florida with his father. This partly is what gave him this cosmopolitan perspective on the world. For anyone unfamiliar with the term ‘cosmopolitan’, it is the ideology that all human beings belong to a single community, based on a shared morality.
After finishing high school in the US, André went to study at the Politecnico de Milano in Italy, where he pursued his B.S. in Aeronautical engineering. During this same time, André played professional basketball for 3 years to help support himself, and served as a public speaker for the Harlem Globetrotters (Figure 2 a,b). However, things often did not come easily to André, and he struggled to obtain this degree, spending an additional semester in Milan to complete a class he had difficulty in. I think this may have been a turning point for him, one of those bifurcating points in life where we double down on our resolve to achieve a goal. While André was very gifted, the thing that truly made him stand out was that he was without a doubt the hardest worker and most driven person I have ever met. I think this is the point in his life where he traded in his wardrobe to begin dressing as the ‘young professor’ we all today knew and remember him as (Figure 2c).
After completing his degree, André came to the US to study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He truly loved the elegance and beauty of Mathematics, and wanted to advance his understandings in this area. During his Master’s, André met his RPI doctoral advisor, Professor Jeffrey Banks. I believe this is another one of those bifurcating points in his life. André became fascinated with Fusion research, specifically in simulating Plasma Interactions, and it gave him tremendous purpose (Figure 3). André was one of these rare individuals who would wake up at 3am to begin work and drive himself into the evening. This singular focus was infectious amongst friends and colleagues.
I met André shortly after he completed his Master’s degree at RPI and decided to stay on to perform his doctoral studies in 2017 (Figure 4). We became fast friends, and part of each others’ daily routine. My fiancée, Nastia, would often joke that my new ‘boyfriend’ treats me very well. Our daily ‘man dates’ would range from things like meeting for coffee or espresso during our break for lunch, where we would discuss our research progress and just life in general, to weight lifting in the evenings or smoking tobacco in our pipes on the porch. Eventually (after much persuasion and a little deception), we brought André to his first Latin social dance. Despite his discomfort in being seen doing something he was ‘not the best at’, André quickly fell in love with the Latin dance scene, and this became one of his passions. In addition to this, we would also spend weekends cooking meals together with our group of friends, where we would continually rotate cooking duties as a way of sharing our food and culture. This was a truly once in a life time friendship that we developed. Part of what made this connection so strong is the similarities that we both shared. Oddly we could usually finish the other’s thoughts and sentences. This leads to an ongoing inside joke between the two of us, that we were living in a virtual reality, where one of us was simulating the other as an alter ego.
André had more challenges waiting for him during his PhD. The first step within a PhD Mathematics program is passing an ‘advancement’ exam. André spent his undergraduate studying aeronautical engineering putting him at a significant disadvantage for this examination. As a result, he struggled with this and would explain such to me over our long talks. He did not pass after the first two attempts, increasing the pressure for him to do so. Despite this, André spent the summer of 2018 working at NASA Langley, which was a lifelong dream of his (Figure 5a,b). During that summer, André spent every waking minute not working (or at the gym…. or salsa dancing) studying and pushing himself to pass his advancement exam.
Upon coming back from NASA, André not only passed his exam, but did very well. This was yet another example of how no obstacle was too big for him to overcome. After this, he passed his Doctoral qualifying exam at the beginning of the 2019 spring semester, and secured a position at the Laurence Livermore National Laboratory. This is a position André was intensely excited about because of the plasma work being performed at this institute, and the connection it has to his research advisor and mentor, Jeffrey Banks.
While André applied for many fellowships to attempt to secure research funding, he unfortunately was not awarded any. He had difficulty writing the personal portion of many of the essays. I had the chance to help read and edit some of these prompts, and watch his writing mature. There was a time we recently went on one of our ‘man dates’ for lunch, where he mentioned his advisor compared his writing style to the ‘Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch’ scene in ‘Monty Python and The Holy Grail ’ (Figure 5c).
Unfortunately, André will not grow old, or be able to pursue his dreams, an opportunity that many of us squander or take for granted. If I could wave a magic wand and trade places with André, I would do this in a heartbeat. However, I cannot. Instead, as a memorial to André’s drive, fervor, and grit, I would like to start a fellowship on his behalf, ‘The André Gianesini Odu Fellowship’, to provide funds to a doctoral student. The criteria of this Fellowship (or scholarship) are still being determined, but will likely be confined to a student studying Nuclear Fusion, specifically Plasma Interactions. I would like to ask that anyone who is feeling the pang of loss and regret from the ‘André-sized hole’ left in our hearts and lives to consider joining me and donating to this as a memorial for André, and help establish his own legacy.
Thank you.
In fond and loving memory,
David
P.S. - I have included some photos of André's surviving family (Figure 6).
André began driving out from Troy to Livermore California last week (April 25th) for a summer internship at the Lawrence Livermore National Labs. André’s career in academic research was something he was extremely passionate about, and this was a huge step in his dream pursuing impactful research in nuclear fusion and renewable energy. During his ride through Nevada, late Friday evening/early Saturday morning, he lost his life in a single-car crash.
André was very intense and a singularly motivated individual. When he decided that there was something worth pursuing, he would ‘go all in’. Mediocrity is something he was unwilling to ever accept. You could even tell this in the way he dressed; André had a carefully curated wardrobe and assortment of colognes that was selected to personify the future professor he was destined to become (Figure 1a). Beyond this, André was a very private individual; you will notice he does not have a Facebook, and was very selective about the people and activities he spent his time on. While André’s circle was small, he cared deeply for those within; if André called you his friend, this was a statement of fact and a credit to the value of your character. On the other hand, there were times if there was something he did not approve of, he would make it quite obvious with his very distinctive ‘concerned dad face’ (Figure 1b).
Over the past two years, I have had the unique privilege of becoming very close with André. Beyond finding out about his embarrassingly large collection of artisanal candles and love of being pampered with face masks while eating giant loafs of banana bread or entire trays of tiramisu, I have been able to first hand witness the tenacity and fierce loyalty he brings to his friendships (Figure 1 c-f). André died a young man at an early stage in his life, before he had a chance to build a family or make the great contributions to science that would have been part of his destiny. Since he is no longer with us, and no one else will have this opportunity, I want to share some pieces of his story. Besides the embarrassing stories, such as his pickup attempt at a coffee shop starting by telling a young lady that he “loved her nice chunky sweater”, my goal is to persuade you to help provide André a legacy, one he will not have the chance to build himself.
André has a unique story, some of which I learned during our conversations and helping him write a ‘New American’ Fellowship. His parents Giovanna and Michael, Italian and Nigerian immigrants, respectively, met after migrating to Florida in search for better lives. While being born in the US, he grew up between both Vincenza, Italy with his mother, and Florida with his father. This partly is what gave him this cosmopolitan perspective on the world. For anyone unfamiliar with the term ‘cosmopolitan’, it is the ideology that all human beings belong to a single community, based on a shared morality.
After finishing high school in the US, André went to study at the Politecnico de Milano in Italy, where he pursued his B.S. in Aeronautical engineering. During this same time, André played professional basketball for 3 years to help support himself, and served as a public speaker for the Harlem Globetrotters (Figure 2 a,b). However, things often did not come easily to André, and he struggled to obtain this degree, spending an additional semester in Milan to complete a class he had difficulty in. I think this may have been a turning point for him, one of those bifurcating points in life where we double down on our resolve to achieve a goal. While André was very gifted, the thing that truly made him stand out was that he was without a doubt the hardest worker and most driven person I have ever met. I think this is the point in his life where he traded in his wardrobe to begin dressing as the ‘young professor’ we all today knew and remember him as (Figure 2c).
After completing his degree, André came to the US to study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He truly loved the elegance and beauty of Mathematics, and wanted to advance his understandings in this area. During his Master’s, André met his RPI doctoral advisor, Professor Jeffrey Banks. I believe this is another one of those bifurcating points in his life. André became fascinated with Fusion research, specifically in simulating Plasma Interactions, and it gave him tremendous purpose (Figure 3). André was one of these rare individuals who would wake up at 3am to begin work and drive himself into the evening. This singular focus was infectious amongst friends and colleagues.
I met André shortly after he completed his Master’s degree at RPI and decided to stay on to perform his doctoral studies in 2017 (Figure 4). We became fast friends, and part of each others’ daily routine. My fiancée, Nastia, would often joke that my new ‘boyfriend’ treats me very well. Our daily ‘man dates’ would range from things like meeting for coffee or espresso during our break for lunch, where we would discuss our research progress and just life in general, to weight lifting in the evenings or smoking tobacco in our pipes on the porch. Eventually (after much persuasion and a little deception), we brought André to his first Latin social dance. Despite his discomfort in being seen doing something he was ‘not the best at’, André quickly fell in love with the Latin dance scene, and this became one of his passions. In addition to this, we would also spend weekends cooking meals together with our group of friends, where we would continually rotate cooking duties as a way of sharing our food and culture. This was a truly once in a life time friendship that we developed. Part of what made this connection so strong is the similarities that we both shared. Oddly we could usually finish the other’s thoughts and sentences. This leads to an ongoing inside joke between the two of us, that we were living in a virtual reality, where one of us was simulating the other as an alter ego.
André had more challenges waiting for him during his PhD. The first step within a PhD Mathematics program is passing an ‘advancement’ exam. André spent his undergraduate studying aeronautical engineering putting him at a significant disadvantage for this examination. As a result, he struggled with this and would explain such to me over our long talks. He did not pass after the first two attempts, increasing the pressure for him to do so. Despite this, André spent the summer of 2018 working at NASA Langley, which was a lifelong dream of his (Figure 5a,b). During that summer, André spent every waking minute not working (or at the gym…. or salsa dancing) studying and pushing himself to pass his advancement exam.
Upon coming back from NASA, André not only passed his exam, but did very well. This was yet another example of how no obstacle was too big for him to overcome. After this, he passed his Doctoral qualifying exam at the beginning of the 2019 spring semester, and secured a position at the Laurence Livermore National Laboratory. This is a position André was intensely excited about because of the plasma work being performed at this institute, and the connection it has to his research advisor and mentor, Jeffrey Banks.
While André applied for many fellowships to attempt to secure research funding, he unfortunately was not awarded any. He had difficulty writing the personal portion of many of the essays. I had the chance to help read and edit some of these prompts, and watch his writing mature. There was a time we recently went on one of our ‘man dates’ for lunch, where he mentioned his advisor compared his writing style to the ‘Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch’ scene in ‘Monty Python and The Holy Grail ’ (Figure 5c).
Unfortunately, André will not grow old, or be able to pursue his dreams, an opportunity that many of us squander or take for granted. If I could wave a magic wand and trade places with André, I would do this in a heartbeat. However, I cannot. Instead, as a memorial to André’s drive, fervor, and grit, I would like to start a fellowship on his behalf, ‘The André Gianesini Odu Fellowship’, to provide funds to a doctoral student. The criteria of this Fellowship (or scholarship) are still being determined, but will likely be confined to a student studying Nuclear Fusion, specifically Plasma Interactions. I would like to ask that anyone who is feeling the pang of loss and regret from the ‘André-sized hole’ left in our hearts and lives to consider joining me and donating to this as a memorial for André, and help establish his own legacy.
Thank you.
In fond and loving memory,
David
P.S. - I have included some photos of André's surviving family (Figure 6).
Organizer
David Michael
Organizer
Troy, NY
