As the first born of six Diné sons, Sky Harper is used to leading by example. That’s how his family taught him: work hard, push beyond what’s comfortable, and go for every opportunity possible.
“This guy set the tone,” says his mother, Cassandra Begay, of Sky’s example to his brothers. “I’m so blessed to have him.”
The family is grounded in a bedrock of prayer and spirituality, values like discipline and humility, and relationships.
Harper is the AISES Senior National Student Representative. He has accepted multiple leadership opportunities, had several research internships, and won numerous fellowships and scholarships. In 2024, Harper graduated in chemistry from Drexel University in Philadelphia and began a year-long biomedical research fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
“I chose chemistry because it gives a fundamental understanding of everything,” he says.
In Fall 2025, he begins PhD studies in molecular pharmacology and experimental therapeutics at the Medical University of South Carolina. With AISES administrative support, he’s also leading a peer group of young researchers seeking to publish their first academic paper.
“Medicinal chemistry is the field that I really want to pursue,” Harper says of combined interests in chemistry and biomedicine. “(Chemistry) just teaches you how to think, like solving a puzzle, and thinking things out sequentially.”
Harper wants to serve the Navajo Nation, where his family lives without running water. In high school, Sky joined AISES and began participating in National American Indian Science and Engineering Fairs. Three times he went on to the prestigious International Science Fair, which caught the attention of Drexel, which offered a full scholarship.
“I was the only Indigenous student pursuing a STEM field at Drexel, so it was a little isolating,” he says. AISES is a place to “recharge,” he says, “(through) the overall message of hope, inspiration, and…how we’re all succeeding and going to continue to succeed.”