It all started with a few steps. Joey Mukherjee ’95 joined a walking program at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to get a little exercise in his routine.
“One of the requirements for joining was that you had to sign up for a 5K or 10K,” said Mukherjee, an institute computer scientist in the Space Science Division at SwRI. “It was to encourage people to have a goal to work toward. I was never a runner. I hated running. I remembered thinking, ‘Why would anyone do this?’ But after I did the 5K, I thought ‘Hey, this isn’t so bad. I’m going to keep running.’”
To his surprise, Mukherjee has run a marathon in 21 states and even received the Six Star Marathon Medal for completing the six world major marathons: Tokyo, Berlin, London, New York, Chicago and Boston.
When his alma mater, The University of Texas at San Antonio, suggested he create a scholarship in his name for computer science students, it came to him instantly: “The Joey Mukherjee Endowed Scholarship for Computer Science Students Who Don’t Run Good.”
“I received a scholarship when I was a student, and this is my way of paying it forward.”
— Joey Mukherjee ’95
Mukherjee graduated from UTSA in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, and since then, he has contributed generously to the school. He joined SwRI shortly after graduation and eventually became involved with the committee for the SwRI-UTSA Scholarship for Children and Dependents of SwRI Employees. This led to him being approached by UTSA to create his own scholarship.
“UTSA said, ‘You can put any requirements on it, and you can call it whatever you want.’ And I said, ‘Now you’re speaking my language,’” he said, and his scholarship was born.
The name is a playful reference to the movie “Zoolander,” but also refers to the scholarship’s requirement that applicants must be computer science students and participate in a 5K to receive the $1,000 award.
“Let’s be honest — there’s a stereotype that computer scientists tend to sit behind our screens and don’t socialize,” Mukherjee said. “I wanted to bring those people, like me, out of their shells and get them to sign up for something out of their comfort zone. Maybe they’ll have the same experience I did and decide it’s not so bad and keep going.”
UTSA began offering the scholarship in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, so Mukherjee was only recently able to meet some of the recipients in person.
“One of the students lived in Guatemala, and he couldn’t find a 5K, so he did a half-marathon,” he said. “I think that’s incredible. I’ve always been the type to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. I used to travel solo and just wander around aimlessly in countries. If I can encourage at least one other person to challenge themselves like that, it’s been worth it.”
Now Mukherjee’s friends have been inspired to create scholarships of their own, and he hopes that his act of stewardship, one of SwRI’s Core Values, also will inspire recipients to do the same in the future.
“I received a scholarship when I was a student, and this is my way of paying it forward,” he said. “I hope it continues. It’s like being the person who plants a tree. You’re building shade for someone 25 years in the future.”
