RE Log - Fall 2021

8 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2021 your life. When you see it up close, you just realize that health is such an asset, a resource.” She recalls her time on RE’s tennis courts providing a much- needed distraction from the pain of that period, helping to keep her active and her spirits up. She landed on a historically spectacular team that was led by Megan Bradley Rose ’01 and Amanda Saiontz Gluck ’03 , both of whom played collegiate tennis (Bradley Rose also played professionally and was inducted into the RE Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009). During her senior year, the girls won a state tennis championship. “I tagged along,” Sridhar said, laughing. “I managed to make the team. I mean, this wasn’t your average high school team, let’s just say that. You had strong players. I was like fifth or sixth on the team. I was just happy to be along, be part of the team, and to play wherever I could.” She found another outlet in her classes, particularly those in the humanities. The University of Miami’s fast-track bachelor’s degree program in medicine offered little time for exploration outside of traditional STEM fields. She credits Ransom Everglades with providing an outstanding foundation in English and writing, which she relies upon to this day. She insists she wasn’t an academic superstar. “The classes were tough – I was always a good student, but I was never the best,” she said. Former RE English teacher Diane Goodman, now a professor at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, begs to differ. Sridhar remembers Goodman as one of her favorite teachers. Goodman, who also taught at the University of Miami, remembers Sridhar as her top student – at any level, high school or college. “Devi was probably the best student I ever had, and I had wonderful students over the years,” Goodman said by phone. “Even as a young person, she was a brilliant and completely devoted student. She was deeply and genuinely interested in all subjects.” ‘Like winning the lottery’ After sailing through the honors program at UM, Sridhar applied to medical schools, preparing to follow in her parents’ footsteps. Her honors advisor urged her to apply for a Rhodes Scholarship, which she did, an attempt she described as a “fluke,” a shot in the dark. She had no expectation of winning such a prestigious honor. When she became the youngest person from the United States ever selected for the Rhodes, and one of only 32 scholars in 2012, she put her plans for med school on permanent hold. “It was,” she said, “like winning the lottery.” Formerly a public health professor at Harvard University, Frenk recalls meeting Sridhar, then a lecturer at Oxford University, at an international conference on global health when she was in her 20s. “She was brilliant and incredibly articulate,” he said by phone this summer. “She is still very young, but she was even younger then, so I immediately saw in her the face of the next generation of leaders in global health. She’s come not only to fulfill that impression, but actually surpass it many times over.” In the beginning The issue of public health has been personal for Sridhar since her days at Ransom Everglades, when her father, Kasi Sridhar – who had dedicated his life to saving lives as a lung cancer researcher at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center – battled leukemia and lymphoma. He received his diagnosis shortly after Devi started ninth grade and, despite a valiant fight, died three months after she graduated in May 2001. He left behind five children, including four who attended Ransom Everglades ( Divya Sridhar ’99 , Devi, Jay Sridhar ’05 and Priya Sridhar ’09 ) and his wife, Leela Sridhar, a pediatrician. “I was super-close to my dad,” Devi said. “He wasn’t unwell the whole time, but it went into remission and came back my senior year. It was a horrible time. My senior year was such a mix. You had all of the celebrations and graduation, but at the same time my dad was really ill. He was in the hospital getting heavy chemo. It was really, really hard, one of the toughest times of my life.” Watching her father as a patient, rather than a doctor, fueled her interest in public health. She began to understand that good health represented true wealth, the ultimate advantage in life. She wanted to work to ensure everyone had that advantage. “Being healthy is invaluable,” she said. “If you’re in chronic pain, or going through chemo, the suffering affects every day of “Devi was probably the best student I ever had, and I had wonderful students over the years. Even as a young person, she was a brilliant and completely devoted student. She was deeply and genuinely interested in all subjects.” – former RE English teacher Diane Goodman “When I think back to some of the stuff I did … I was – looking back – quite fearless. I was just taking the plunge and trying to understand.” – Devi Sridhar ’01