11 hours ago
NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary: All about Zohran Mamdani's educational qualifications
Who says you've got a shot to make history only if/when you come out of Ivy League Schools!
Zohran Kwame Mamdani sure is clearly going against the current and proving otherwise!
Mamdani is making history, paving the path for the same since the last few months – with his grounded approach, bold aspirations, and a feel-good campaign that has occupied space over every corner of social media – while establishing his presence across the streets and boroughs of New York City.
As much fun, hopeful, assuring, and serotonin-inducing as his campaign has been – the result of the same has given him back tenfold.
Scripting history, the 33-year-old has emerged as the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. After Andrew Cuomo, the former (and 'disgraced') governor of NYC, decided to concede, saying, 'Tonight is his night,' Mamdani secured his seat as the Democratic nominee for the 2025 New York City mayoral election, set to occur on November 4.
Mamdani will be contesting against the incumbent, Eric Adams, who was elected mayor on the Democratic Party line in 2021, but is seeking re-election to a second term as an independent – despite being indicted on federal corruption charges in September 2024 and facing calls to resign from office.
Now, looking at Mamdani's meteoric socio-political rise at such a young age, one might think that he must have an equally polished academic background.
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Turns out – although it's impressive in its own right – Mamdani's eduactional qualifications are more substantial than glamorous and boisterous.
The humble upbringing
Born in Kampala, Uganda, Zohran Kwame Mamdani (his middle name pays tribute to Ghana's Pan-African leader Kwame Nkrumah) began a childhood that would travel different continents and various cultures. At age five, his family fled Uganda and moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where he attended St.
George's Grammar School, an institution steeped in colonial history and academic rigor.
At seven, the family relocated to New York City, settling on the Upper West Side. There, Zohran attended the Bank Street School for Children, a progressive institution emphasizing experiential learning, social justice, and civic responsibility. Apart from being the child of Mira Nair (an acclaimed feminist filmmaker, who often incorporates political and social commentary in her work) and Mahmood Mamdani (a renowned scholar with anti-colonial scholarship and activism), this early exposure to democratic education complemented his later academic pursuits.
In his teenage years, Zohran's academic path led to the prestigious Bronx High School of Science, known for its intense focus on STEM and intellectual curiosity. Although he could not get into Stuyvesant High School, located in Lower Manhattan and widely celebrated as one of the nation's most prestigious public secondary schools, Mamdani took that into his stride.
And as one would have foreseen, Mamdani's engagement extended beyond classrooms – he co-founded the school's first cricket team, entering the Public School Athletic League and reflecting early leadership and organizational aptitude.
Infusing academics and activism:
Following his New York City public school trajectory, Zohran enrolled at Bowdoin College, a liberal arts institution in Maine. There, he pursued a Bachelor's degree in Africana Studies, graduating in 2014. This field of study is interdisciplinary, encompassing history, politics, culture, and identities rooted in Africa and its diaspora, aligning deeply with his values in equity, anti-colonialism, and justice.
At Bowdoin, his activism flourished. He co-founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, signaling both early political engagement and a willingness to challenge institutional norms. As he later reflected: "We can't separate the classroom from political issues.' This academic-activist mindset became a cornerstone of his political identity.
From a clean slate to an emerging star:
Mamdani's background is humble, not too bragworthy.
But what is imbued in his upbringing is his deep sense of socio-political philosophy that has become the guiding principle in his professional life as a public representative.
For Zohran, education was not only personal – it was familial. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, taught political science and anthropology at Columbia University, publishing widely on colonialism. His mother, Mira Nair, is a globally celebrated filmmaker whose works examine race, diaspora, and power.
Their dinner table was described as a space for deep, global political conversation.
While this rich intellectual and cultural upbringing exposed Zohran to critical thinking, storytelling, and the power of ideas, he arts and humanities blended with political theory, giving him a compelling ability to frame policies not just in data, but in narrative and human experience.
On the ground with NYC's contact tracers
