When Gideon Ndeh was in grade school, he would come home, drop his backpack, and begin a five-mile walk. He and his brother would head to the family farm, where the boys would harvest crops to pay for school fees, books, and household essentials.

After working for a few hours and walking five miles back home, they would crawl into their grandmother’s uncomfortable bed in the middle of the kitchen. The brothers would fall asleep inhaling smoke from the smoldering, burning wood that cooked dinner.

“Although we grew up poor, I gained several precious memories that humbled me and helped me realize the importance of building a community,” Ndeh said.

Life changed in 2008 when Ndeh was 7 years old. His father, Michael, won a visa lottery to leave their village in western Cameroon and moved his family to Maryland the next year.

Ndeh would eventually enroll at Morehouse College, participating in the Dual Degree Engineering Program (DDEP), which allowed him to attend any of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering programs after three years at Morehouse.

“I didn’t even know that Morehouse partnered with Georgia Tech until I started classes,” Ndeh said. “And engineering wasn’t the plan. When I was filling out some forms about my major, I couldn’t find ‘undecided,’ so I clicked ‘engineering.’”

“Gideon was selected because he demonstrates all of the characteristics of a successful Georgia Tech student — academic excellence, a sense of broader impact to his community, empathy for others, and extreme resilience and grit,” said David Torello, who leads the Dean’s Scholars Program. “Ultimately, I hope that he develops his already strong skillset in academics and societal awareness and impact. He recognizes the impact of this gift. I want him to use it to its fullest advantage to come out of Tech like a rocket and start accomplishing his goals and dreams at an accelerated pace, while also feeling safe to explore his passions and projects.” 

The Dean’s Scholars Program has lifted the financial stress from Ndeh’s shoulders, while also allowing him to think beyond campus. He’s weighing the opportunity to study abroad at Georgia Tech-Lorraine in the spring. But his biggest dreams remain focused on his home city of Bemenda. A civil war has crippled Cameroon since 2017. Ndeh hasn’t traveled back to see his mom and siblings in 11 years.

“The pursuit of my mechanical engineering degree is rooted in something much bigger than myself,” he said. “Studying at Georgia Tech allows me to access additional experience and development in my field. Moreover, I will be able to pour back into my village, equipping them with the knowledge and self-sufficiency to sustain continuous improvement.”

Ndeh said he and his brother, Belafort, who attends the University of Baltimore, hope someday to establish a nonprofit company to assist their hometown. Ndeh also plans to use the skills learned in the Woodruff School to teach an older brother — a self-taught engineer — who remains in Cameroon.