Mentors Who Inspire: Thomas Waters Jr.’s Goal is to Give Back and Help Mentees Succeed

By Melissa Simon

Thomas Waters Jr. is the Assistant Director for Morgan State University’s Office of Undergraduate Research and a mentor for the university’s BUILD ASCEND program.  He identifies as Afro-Cuban. He desires to cultivate a culture of undergraduate research and creative inquiry, with his own research interests being diverse in nature. 

Sometimes one comment is all it takes to upend the best laid plans.

For Thomas Waters Jr., it was a suggestion from Eric Jackson, his former Residence Life supervisor at St. Bonaventure University that changed the trajectory of his career from biomedical research to higher education.

Waters Jr. obtained a bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Bonaventure University in 2011, and then traveled to Spain with the intent to apply for a lab tech job. He wanted to get some hands-on experience before pursuing a PhD. But after a year of striking out in his job search, Waters said his supervisor’s comment about switching to higher education got him thinking.

While helping students prepare for summer research programs and other activities at the University at Buffalo in 2014, Waters realized he was better equipped at helping people going into the research field than he was at conducting it himself. Now, as the Assistant Director for Morgan State University’s Office of Undergraduate Research and a mentor for the MSU ASCEND Center for Biomedical Research, he also offers advice to non-STEM students.

This notion of giving students advice was right in Waters’ wheelhouse, given that he’s always had a “sense of giving back and paying it forward” whenever possible. And soon, students had bestowed the moniker of “mentor” on Waters because of the relationships he fostered with them.

“I’ve always considered myself a Renaissance man . . . a jack-of-all-trades, so the fact that people have identified (me as a mentor) . . . and I continue to take students under my wing is really rewarding for me,” said Waters.

Being a mentor is a newer concept to Waters, who said he did not make full use of the mentors he had during his undergraduate program at St. Bonaventure University.

“Whatever comes your way, especially if it's out of your control, just know that you have everything you need to overcome it. . . . Reach out to someone you trust, and we will help find a solution to your problems.”

-Thomas Waters Jr.

“I don’t know if it was intimidation, imposter syndrome or something else that prevented me from admitting that I needed help…maybe it was just ego and pride,” Waters said.

But Margaret Bryner, a now-retired Higher Education Opportunity Program director at St. Bonaventure, went above and beyond to show Waters what it meant to truly encourage students to succeed.

He credits Bryner with helping him stay connected when he had to defer his planned second and third years of college to undergo very intensive treatment for relapsed leukemia; he received his first diagnosis while in high school. Waters is now in remission.

“(She not only saw) the potential in me and accepted me into the program, but she stayed connected with me when I was going through, without a doubt, the most challenging time in my life,” he said.

Through Bryner and Jackson, Waters said he learned that a good mentor is committed to knowing what is happening in their mentees’ lives, and also has knowledge and experience to help them best prepare for their careers.

The path of mentor-mentee is two-way, Waters said.

While he’s professionally gained a greater knowledge in STEM areas that he does not have a lot of training in, the personal benefits have also been great. For example, when his son was born in 2020, he said students showered his family with gifts for the baby.

“It wasn’t necessary, but I really appreciated those tokens of love and support,” he said.

To his mentees and the rest of the STEM community, Waters had this to say about pushing forward on their biomedical career journeys:

“Whatever comes your way, especially if it's out of your control, just know that you have everything you need to overcome it. . . . Reach out to someone you trust, and we will help find a solution to your problems.”