This 80-Year-Old Guyanese Teacher Inspired A Generation
Leroy Trotz, teacher and forefather of STEM education in Guyana
By Leah Sinclair | The Voice
There’s agrowing popularity in people from underrepresented communities engaging in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sector. In fact, the growth rate in the number of women graduates in physical science exceeded that of men in the UK in 2017.
And despite a need to increase inclusion within this field, we are seeing more organisations highlight the need for diversity within the STEM field and raise the profile of BAME grads engaging in various sciences.
One of the key black figures that have paved the way in STEM — long before the popular buzzword saturated our newsfeeds and social media streams — is Leroy Trotz.
Born in Guyana, Mr Trotz is an accomplished physicist and teacher, who previously occupied the role of deputy head master of the prestigious Bishops High School and headmaster at Queens College.
Despite the lack of resources and importance placed on STEM during Mr Trotz younger years in Guyana, his interest in physics began in the home and never waned.
“My interest in physics started after my brother who studied physics at Cambridge University. Some years before that, I started looking at some of his books and in those days in Guyana physics was only done at certain schools — in fact not all the schools had science labs,” he says.
Read more about Mr. Trotz from The Voice.
