Constance Iloh, a 2009 University of Maryland graduate and academic who appeared in this year’s Forbes “30 Under 30” list for education trailblazers, used to be shy.
Once Iloh gained her confidence, though, she never turned back, said Nina Harris, a public policy school assistant dean.
“She didn’t really find her voice until probably her junior year,” said Harris, who mentored Iloh during her time directing the College Park Scholars Public Leadership and Rawlings Undergraduate Leadership Fellows programs. “Then she started taking up a role in student leadership organizations.”
Iloh, now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine, received her spot on Forbes’ list of brightest young people for her research on educational equity, access and experiences of underserved groups of college students. She credits this university for giving her a strong foundation.
“Maryland got me really, really excited about a lot, particularly by being involved in student organizations,” Iloh said. “I think it was Maryland that I really began to understand myself more as a professional.”
Iloh was awarded a Gates Millennium scholarship to attend this university. The scholarship, which is awarded only to minority students who are eligible for need-based Pell Grants, encouraged her to think about educational access and opportunities, particularly for low-income students and students of color, she said.
Serving as a student leader made Iloh think about what higher education means as a social institution, she said. She studied psychology and communication, particularly issues of diversity and inclusion, in the hopes of changing the landscape of higher education.
“I wanted to spend the rest of my life learning and producing knowledge,” she said.
She has a forthcoming book that will focus on the for-profit higher education sector.
Malika Waller, a close friend of Iloh’s from this university, describes her as very ambitious and involved in everything.
“I don’t know when she slept, because she was a part of [the Department of Resident Life], she tutored, she had a 4.0 in every one of her classes and still had a social life,” Waller said.
David Morris, a 2012 graduate, was one of Iloh’s mentees through the Black Student Union. He said he reached out to her while at the university, describing her as one of the “movers and shakers” on the campus.
“She was very, very clear about her passion, why she was pursuing what she was doing, and she never let up off that,” Morris said. “She was always a leader.”
With Forbes’ recognition comes a position of great influence, Harris said, in which Iloh can potentially empower others.
“I look forward to seeing how she, especially as a woman of color and young woman of color, chooses to mentor those that are coming behind her,” Harris said.
