Aakash Shah ’10

In 2006 Aakash Shah ’10 entered Ursinus seeing it as “the idyllic small liberal-arts college.” He originally had his sights set on larger big-city schools, but ultimately chose Ursinus because it offered him a rare opportunity: the freedom to do research from day one.

During his time at Ursinus, as a biology and neuroscience major, he became interested in the applications of medicine and public health, and planned a career combining clinical and academic medicine with global health policy. In 2008, while at Ursinus, he volunteered at a medical clinic in India, which opened his eyes to the connection between poverty and health care. He eventually declared a third major, Ursinus’s first self-initiated major: Inequality Studies.

As a senior, Aakash received one of the most celebrated academic awards, becoming a Rhodes scholar. As a Rhodes Scholar he went on to receive his MBA and MS from Oxford University. He went on to obtain his M.D. from Harvard Medical School.

Citing guidance of incredible mentors at Ursinus like the Rev. Charles Rice, and professors Rebecca Lyczak, Robert Dawley and Ellen Dawley, Aakash shared, “You can draw a direct line from Ursinus to what I have accomplished. I had incredible mentors who challenged me to find how I could make my corner of the world a better place. The lessons I learned under them, such as the value of service learning, inform the very core of what I do.”

In 2016, Aakash was honored by the White House as a community activist, a “Champion of Change,” for the work of his nonprofit, Be Jersey Strong, a grassroots effort that helps New Jersey residents understand their health care options. In 2021-2022 he was honored as a White House Fellow for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Most recently Aakash is Chief of Addiction Medicine at Hackensack Meridian Health.