The famed director of Malcolm X decided he didn’t want to let the aspiring screenwriter go—and he offered Kessler the chance to adapt the play for the screen.

He spent eight months working on the screenplay. The script never got produced, but now Kessler’s resume had Spike Lee’s name on it and he was on his way.

Kessler went on to produce and write for “The Sopranos” on HBO, where his work was nominated for three Emmy awards. He has also just created his first television drama series entitled “Jamaica Ave,” which will be directed by Spike Lee.

Harvard to Africa

For Cagan Sekercioglu ’97, writing a thesis on the long-term effects of forestry practices on African birds meant his first visit to the continent, a stay that lasted two months and for which he prepared by memorizing the calls of about 250 Ugandan forest bird species.

After he graduated, the thesis helped him get funding for subsequent work—research that has taken him to about 50 countries across the world, where he has observed 4,062 bird species.

During his undergraduate years as a biology and anthropology concentrator, Sekercioglu never expected his thesis work to take him along this path.

But after he graduated, he embarked on a six-month backpacking trip from Colombia to Antarctica for research and photography. A Turkish newspaper wrote a story about his trip and mentioned that he was looking for funding for a book project about African natural history and conservation.

The article also mentioned his thesis research, and when officials from a Turkish bank read the piece, they offered to pay for him to conduct research and write his book.

To date, Sekercioglu, who is currently studying for his doctorate at Stanford University, has published eight scientific articles, as well as 27 popular articles on natural history, ecology and outdoor travel. He was recently elected one of the country’s top 100 scientists in a popular Turkish news magazine.

“Your thesis can be your ticket to a research career,” he says, “if you do a good job.”

—Staff writer Anat Maytal can be reached at maytal@fas.harvard.edu.