Morgan State Students Excel in STEM Fields and Service

While passing one actuarial exam is impressive, Charlton Dottin just conquered his fifth professional test in a field where only 2% of professionals look like him.

The Morgan State senior recently passed the Advanced Long-Term Actuarial Mathematics exam, a grueling three-hour written test that challenges students to apply complex statistical models to real-world insurance and pension scenarios. The national pass rate hovers between 45% and 56%, making his achievement even more remarkable.

Charlton will join Milliman in Chicago as an actuarial analyst after graduation. Morgan State remains the only historically Black college offering an actuarial science program, a field that blends mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to analyze risk.

His classmate Ana Pineda is heading to Puerto Rico this spring with something equally rare in hand: a full scholarship from the Council on International Educational Exchange. She's one of just 74 students nationwide selected for the Leading Change in Latin America Fellowship, which includes a $2,000 stipend and a paid architecture internship.

Ana plans to use her semester abroad to deepen her understanding of community-centered design. She'll return to Morgan to complete her degree before pursuing a career creating culturally grounded spaces around the world.

Meanwhile, senior Takiya Eastmond earned recognition as one of Baltimore Banner's "2026 Emerging Leaders" for launching Morgan's first-ever TEDx event. The double major in Engineering and Computer Science is making waves both on campus and across Baltimore's innovation community.

The Ripple Effect

These students represent a larger transformation happening at Morgan State. Their success signals growing opportunities for Black students in fields where representation has historically been minimal, from actuarial science to international architecture.

Each achievement creates pathways for students who will follow. When Charlton passes exam after exam in a field that's 98% non-Black, he shows younger students what's possible. When Ana earns competitive fellowships, she proves Morgan students can compete anywhere.

Their collective excellence strengthens Morgan's reputation as a launching pad for tomorrow's problem solvers and innovators.

These four students are just getting started, and their best work likely lies ahead.