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Yodit Herrmann

All her roads led to Maine

MS in Biotechnology, College of Science

Born in Belize to parents who worked for the United Nations, Yodit Herrmann has traveled the world. She’s lived in Mexico, Switzerland, and Pakistan. Her ties to Ethiopia, her mother’s birthplace, are strong. But her heart belongs to Maine.

“The ocean, the mountains are right here. There’s so much to do that other places can’t offer.”

Hermann moved to the Pine Tree State in eighth grade and graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School. In 2019, with a biology degree from Ohio’s Kenyon College, she landed a research assistant job at the Maine Medical Center’s Myocardial Biology & Heart Failure Research Lab.

Looking ahead, Herrmann worried that she’d have to leave the state to find the right master’s degree program. Those fears disappeared when she discovered the Roux Institute, where she has enrolled full time in the master’s program in biotechnology. “I could go into public health. I could become a consultant. I could work for a pharmaceutical company. I’ll have so many options,” she says.

Hermann appreciated Roux’s proximity to her home, the opportunities it offers for real-world professional assignments, and a generous scholarship that “made it possible.” She’s also grateful for its mission: To transform Portland, Maine, into a hub for innovation, talent, and economic growth in tech-forward fields.

“A lot of young Mainers will get degrees here and leave, because options for jobs and graduate education here are limited,” she says. “But Roux says, ‘We’re for Maine. We want to bring younger people back and make this an environment where we can grow together as a community.’”