Okolo speaking on a Brookings Institution panel with the Michelle Donelan, the U.K.’s former secretary of state for science, innovation and technology (far left). Above, Okolo’s collection of awards and plaques in her Washington, D.C., office.

Centered on a shelf in her Washington, D.C., office is the plaque Chinasa T. Okolo ’18 received nearly a decade ago from the Office of Black Student Affairs of The Claremont Colleges.

“Recognizing Genius in Our Community,” her 2015 First-Year Student Award reads.

Okolo, a former computer science major by way of Kansas City, Missouri, holds dear her time at Pomona, crediting her liberal arts education and professors for igniting in her a desire to understand human-computer interaction.

Now an expert in artificial intelligence (AI) after years of postgraduate and professional research, Okolo recently landed on Time Magazine’s list of The 100 Most Influential People in AI.

“With the education I received at Pomona,” Okolo says, “I’ve been able to leverage my skills and understanding of how technology, particularly AI, can impact and is impacting marginalized populations in the U.S. and globally. A lot of times this kind of work doesn’t get too much attention, so I’m very grateful to have been included on the list.”

As a fellow for the Brookings Institution, Okolo advocates for responsible AI adoption and governance across the Global South. At Brookings, her research includes analyzing datafication and algorithmic marginalization in Africa.

In recent months, Okolo has been quoted in The New York Times and The Washington Post, and she has appeared in segments on Voice of America, the country’s largest international broadcaster.

This summer, TechCrunch published a Q&A with Okolo as part of its “Women in AI” series on “remarkable women who’ve contributed to the AI revolution.”

“This AI boom has given me an opportunity to show the necessity of AI literacy,” Okolo says. “People are very enamored with the possibilities of AI, but don’t understand implications around bias and inequality.”

In addition to appearing in print and broadcast media, Okolo has been a guest speaker this year at international conferences and workshops in Senegal, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates.

Well before she started trotting the globe, Okolo studied abroad in Hungary while at Pomona. Having never been out of the country before her semester away, Okolo says her maiden international trip “gave me the comfortability as a global citizen … and was a launching point to me visiting different countries throughout my career.”

Alexandra Papoutsaki, associate professor of computer science, met Okolo as a first-year professor in 2017 and found her inquisitive, methodical and thoughtful in how she approached researching human-computer interaction—and, particularly, the inclusivity issues certain technologies create for people of color.

Less than a decade later, Papoutsaki is astounded by—and proud of—Okolo’s rise.

“She’s been published very prolifically by some of the most competitive venues in our area,” Papoutsaki says. “She’s great at going out there and disseminating information publicly. She’s absolutely an emerging leader in tech in general, not just AI. She’s a person who’s able to build relationships with industry, NGOs and academia.”

In her first year as a Ph.D. student at Cornell, Okolo sent Papoutsaki a postcard from New York.

Papoutsaki still has it in her office.

“It’s remarkable that someone that young is able to do what she’s doing,” Papoutsaki says. “Chinasa is the absolute embodiment of how remarkable our students can be, how they can excel while at Pomona, but also take what we give them and do so much more once they graduate.”

This spring Pomona honored Building Attendant Joaquin Rios and Academic Coordinator Cynthia Madrigal with this year’s Distinguished Staff Awards.

Rios has worked in the Housekeeping Department at Pomona for 10 years, and was appreciated for his thoroughness. “He goes above and beyond to make sure everything is immaculate, organized and in order,” writes one nominator. Two people mention how Rios cares for their plants: “It took me months to realize that he’s been watering all my plants without me ever asking him.”

Beyond the work he does, many point to Rio’s kindness and friendliness. “Joaquin always has a smile on his face and a positive attitude. He greets everyone with a smile,” says one person. “My every interaction with him is positive, and I often see how he makes everyone’s days brighter,” says another.

Madrigal, meanwhile, is an 18-year employee of Pomona who manages the unique challenge of juggling the coordination of three different departments: Art History, Classics and Gender and Women’s Studies.

“She serves all three ably, covering the budgets and all the arrangements for all three departments,” says George Gorse, chair of art history. “She is a very hard worker who takes on massive amounts of responsibility with efficiency and grace.”

Another nominator concurs: “Providing support to three different programs is challenging in and of itself. Each entity has their own nuances and demands, and Cynthia provides assistance with grace, resilience and professionalism.”

The fall brings fresh schedules for football, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s volleyball, men’s water polo and men’s and women’s soccer.

Three student-athletes currently in season reflect on what drew them to Pomona, how they balance schoolwork and athletic responsibilities, and what they plan to do when their playing days are over.

Women’s Volleyball: Savanna Cespedes ’26

What fascinates Cespedes about the brain is its relationship to the body. As she recovers from major knee surgery, she’s seen firsthand how complex that relationship can be.

A neuroscience major from Rancho Cucamonga, she’s back in practice after tearing her ACL last October, and while she’s regained strength in her knee almost a year later, she says she’s still rebuilding the mind-to-muscle connection.

“I can tell my brain is reacting faster than my body,” she adds. “I’ll see certain things and my brain is telling me to move, but my body doesn’t want to.”

As one of four team captains, Cespedes shares responsibility for putting her teammates in the best position to succeed. She’s inching closer to returning to game action and credits Pomona’s trainers for helping her recover from her first major injury.

“The first month after surgery was one of the roughest months of my life,” she says. “Having my sense of independence stripped from me was something I really struggled with. But my parents, my friends and my team were my rocks.”

Cespedes got her EMT certification this summer as she recovered from surgery. She plans to pursue a master’s in physician assistant studies with the intent to become capable of providing life-saving support when called upon.

Men’s Cross Country: Joseph Cox ’25

As a distance runner, Cox sees the beauty of the world around him. As a 3D animator, he builds worlds for others to see.

“When doing documentary work, a lot of the time world-building begins once you have the footage,” Cox says. “But in 3D animation, every single item throughout the process has to be put in context because you make everything from scratch.”

A media studies major, Cox balances his curiosities in the classroom and responsibilities as a runner. During this past track season, the Austin, Texas, native was asked by a friend and fellow distance runner to animate an ichthyosaurus from photo scans with the help of Claremont McKenna College professor Lars Schmitz.

Over the summer, Cox not only animated the creature, but created an underwater environment with fluid simulations that accurately react to the ichthyosaurus entering and exiting the water.

As big a field as 3D animation is, Cox hopes to narrow his expertise to modeling, texturing or compositing. His strengths lie in modeling and texturing, and he can see himself creating detailed worlds in video games or movies.

“I’m not exactly sure where the 3D jobs will take me,” he says. “But I definitely want to do 3D animation in film or other types of media.”

Women’s Soccer: Anjali Nuggehalli ’26

When Nuggehalli came to Pomona, she expected to grow close with her teammates on the pitch. She didn’t expect to do the same with colleagues in the Computer Science Department.

“Until I got to Pomona, I didn’t think a STEM department would have the opportunity for socialization and bonding,” says Nuggehalli, a computer science and politics double major. “When I talk to people at bigger schools, especially in STEM departments, it’s very much you go to lecture where there’s hundreds of kids, you do the assignments, turn them in and that’s that.”

Drawing inspiration from upperclassmen, Nuggehalli became a computer science liaison, fostering relationships with faculty and peers while playing for one of the preeminent Division III women’s soccer programs in the country.

In the summer she interned with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s Business Innovation and Data Analytics division as a Women in Sports Tech fellow, where she analyzed fan engagement and built a model to predict medal counts. She also visited the Team USA training center in Colorado to rub elbows with top directors and athletes.

A native of Saratoga, California, Nuggehalli is enticed by a career in sports technology and hopes to continue exploring related avenues at Pomona.

“Everyone here is passionate for learning,” she says, “and that inspires me to not only go to class to get good grades, but to walk out and feel like a more well-rounded, educated person.”