An international student from India, Ryan Pereira ’02 PhD still carries the Buckeye spirit across globe. Today, he serves as a Regional Officer with the United States–India Educational Foundation (USIEF), the Fulbright Commission in India, where he supervises the Fulbright Program in Western India. Looking back, Pereira credits Ohio State with teaching him resilience and perspective. “I learned not to give up and keep working hard,” he says. That Buckeye sense of belonging still shows up in the middle of the night—when he wakes up at 2 a.m. to follow football games live from abroad.
A mentor who made the difference
Pereira points to his Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD advisor Caroline Brietenberger as a lasting influence on his life and career. He remembers how her calm presence during difficult moments helped him navigate the very real pressures of graduate school. “The professors are tough, they challenge students and the students are expected to perform,” he recalls. Arriving on campus, he admits he was not prepared for workload. “I was a little naïve and thought that classes were easy with just two or three lectures a day and rest of the time to myself. I didn’t realize just how hard it would be.” Pereira quickly fell behind. With Dr. Brietenberger’s support, he learned to steady himself and keep going. “Not giving up when things got tough and having the support of a professor, helped me overcome these challenges.”
Campus memories
Some of Pereira’s favorite memories are tied to home football Saturdays—the “circus” of game day activity, from neighbors selling parking spots near North Campus to the shared pride that comes with being part of Buckeye Nation. On the way to a Penn State game at Ohio Stadium, he once got a surprising question: “Are you a Penn State fan?” someone asked—just because he was wearing a navy-blue shirt. Years later, his connection to Ohio State football hasn’t faded. “We still get together to watch The Game,” he says, adding that he’ll even set alarms to catch kickoffs live from abroad.
As a graduate student, Pereira also appreciated the freedom to explore beyond the lab—taking up ballroom dancing and completing a First Aid courses on campus.
When he needed a break, Pereira headed to the walking path along the Olentangy River. He loved the quiet of the trail and the ability to “run from campus all the way to Worthington.” It was at Ohio State that he took up long-distance running—especially after realizing the Columbus Marathon route passed right through campus.
While he didn’t join any specific student organizations, Pereira found community in the day-to-day rhythms of graduate life—playing softball with biochemistry students and squeezing in racquetball games with his lab mates.
“Your time at Ohio State goes by fast so take time to enjoy it.”
Professional journey
After graduating from Ohio State in 2002, Pereira continued his research career at Cornell University, working in the Department of Molecular Medicine as a postdoc and research associate for seven years. In December 2009, he returned to India with his family, taught Molecular Biology at St. Xavier’s College for a year, and then joined the United States–India Educational Foundation (USIEF).
He has now been with USIEF for more than 15 years and currently supervises the Fulbright Program in Western India—work that, as he describes it, centers on creating opportunities for students and scholars to learn, teach, and conduct research across borders.
Sage advice
Pereira’s advice is simple: “Your time at Ohio State goes by fast,” he says, “so take time to enjoy it.” He encourages students to lean into the plethora of opportunities on campus for self-growth – not just as scholars. For international students in particular, he notes, it’s easy to focus only on academics: “You might just focus on academics and forget to enjoy the experience,” he says. “Try to do both.”
He also reminds Buckeyes that graduation is just the beginning of a new community: the Ohio State alumni – all around the globe. “The Ohio State alumni group here in India is very active and can help you build your network,” he says, sharing that they still get together to watch The Game. For Pereira, those connections, the memories he built in Columbus, remain a lifelong source of pride. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time on campus,” he adds, “and the memories will stay with me forever.”
