Spotlight on: Sean Reilly (’08), Rhodes Scholar

Melting polar ice caps, rising seas, mounting garbage piles, droughts, floods, and wildfires – it’s enough to make a person cynical about the future. But not Sean Reilly. The 2008 Hillbrook graduate and 2018 Rhodes Scholarship winner believes there is reason to be hopeful about where we’re heading as a planet, and he wants to be part of the solution. As Reilly says, “the world is changing and the question is how are we going to adapt to the changes? I think it’s about looking for answers founded in research.”  

Reilly is already on his way to finding answers. He is using the Rhodes Scholarship to earn two master’s degrees at Oxford University in England: one in mathematical modeling and scientific computing and another in environmental change and management. A Rhodes Scholarship is one of the most prestigious academic awards in the world and Reilly was one of only 32 Americans to receive the scholarship in 2018. According to the Rhodes Trust, recipients are chosen not only for their outstanding scholarly achievements but for their “character, commitment to others and to the common good, and for their potential for leadership in whatever domain their careers may lead.”  

In addition to the Rhodes Scholarship, Reilly was also awarded a Fulbright Scholarship. This, after graduating with honors from Santa Clara University in 2016 with degrees in environmental studies and biology. Reilly used the Fulbright award to help lead a community-based research project in Australia, working with Aboriginal Australian communities to manage an invasive plant species known as the pond apple, which is used as a food source but also causes environmental damage.

So how did this former Hillbrook student who still remembers playing flag football, carving a wooden duck in wood shop, and traversing a secret path across the creek in 8th grade, wind up in such an elite academic stratosphere? Reilly says curiosity and a love of learning is at the center of it all, and that started for him with Hillbrook. Reilly attended Hillbrook for 10 years, JK to 8th grade, before going on to Bellarmine College Preparatory and then Santa Clara University. He says, “Hillbrook fostered my love of learning which is the foundation of everything that’s followed. Hillbrook’s emphasis on hands-on exploration of the world set me on a trajectory of asking questions and seeking knowledge. Most importantly, it’s where I discovered that school and learning are fun.”  

Sean remembers  a classroom conversation with science teacher Brian Ravizza that flipped a switch for him. He says it happened when Mr. Ravizza told the class about a summer fellowship to study orangutans in the rainforest. Says Reilly, “I was so intrigued by the idea of studying orangutans in their native environment, I think that’s when it first set in that I might really want to pursue science.”

Reilly is remembered fondly by his former Hillbrook teachers as a kind-hearted, hard-working, and outstanding student. Brian Ravizza says, “Sean was always totally on the ball. When I think of him at Hillbrook I remember him as incredibly intelligent, inquisitive, and balanced. He was respected by the other kids, too, because he had a strong sense of responsibility, but he could still be playful.” His former Spanish teacher, Josyane Kelly, says Sean was, “positive, funny, and definitely a curious student who was eager to learn new things.”

Asked about his masters degrees, Reilly explains that mathematical modeling and scientific computing make it is possible for scientists to see environmental threats and predict their progression, which can then lead to helpful policies protecting people and the planet. Despite global concerns about climate change, pollution, and resource depletion, Sean remains optimistic about the future, “I’m definitely hopeful. The world is going to look different, but that doesn’t mean it won’t or can’t still look good if people start playing along – understanding environmental threats and making necessary changes.”