The Youngest Black Professor To Simultaneously Teach At 3 Prestigious US Universities After Being Rejected Many Times

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Meet 28-year-old Dr. Eli Joseph, the youngest Black instructor to teach simultaneously at three prestigious universities – Columbia University, New York University, and UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). This year, he gave the ceremonial speech to the class of 2023 graduates at the School of Professional Studies at both Columbia and NYU.

Despite his distinguished accomplishments, however, Dr. Joseph is no stranger to failure and rejection. In his lifetime, he’s been turned down by more than 1,500 employers, 30 colleges, and 75 scholarship foundations. He was denied admission to other elite institutions like Princeton, UPenn, Cornell University, Dartmouth University, and Brown University. Back in 2012, Dr. Joseph received a letter of rejection from Columbia University. Today, he serves as an associate faculty in the Applied Analytics program at Columbia University School of Professional Studies.

Back in 2016, he was also rejected by the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. Now, he teaches graduate students at the NYU School of Professional Studies.

Additionally, he has seen thousands of rejection notices from various firms in finance, technology, and managerial consulting. Some of these companies include JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Google, Amazon, Facebook, BCG, McKinsey, Deloitte, and Bain.

Though Dr. Joseph experienced a plethora of rejections from various firms and institutions, he has successfully overcome various personal and professional challenges – including the recent loss of his older brother last year.

Through it all, he uses his failures as fuel for motivation to succeed. He recently delivered two TEDx talks this past fall entitled “Time Is Your Biggest Competition” and “No Trace, No Case”.

Dr. Joseph earned his Doctorate in Business Administration from Felician University and was he first-ever graduate to complete the curriculum at the age of 24. He is also the author of a best-selling book entitled The Perfect Rejection Resume: A Reader’s Guide to Building a Career Through Failure.