Morwan Osman

Biography

I’ve been teaching in one form or another throughout my adult life. It started in college, when I tutored local middle school students in math and science. During my Ph.D., I helped organize high school science fairs, taught honors biochemistry, and trained undergraduates in research. Later, at the University of Cambridge and the University of York, I led small-group lab sessions and tutorials for biology and chemistry students. Across these experiences, I’ve found that I especially enjoy helping students work through challenging material and develop the confidence to tackle unfamiliar problems.

I earned my B.Eng. in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and my Ph.D. in Molecular & Cellular Biology from the University of Washington. I then spent more than a decade conducting research in England, first at the University of Cambridge and then at the University of York. My research combined microbiology and biochemistry to study the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, work that brought together chemistry, mathematics, and biology. Those connections between disciplines are also what make these subjects so interesting to me as a teacher.

My goal as a tutor is to give students both the understanding and confidence they need to meet the challenges that learning can present. Encountering an unfamiliar subject naturally comes with some uncertainty, and that uncertainty can be especially uncomfortable for students who are accustomed to knowing the right answer. I want students to feel comfortable asking questions, working through mistakes, and taking on problems they haven’t seen before. By breaking down complex ideas and connecting them to concepts students already understand, I help make challenging material feel more approachable.

I recently moved back to the United States from England and now call the Bay Area home. When I’m not tutoring, I enjoy film photography, attending live music, and volunteering.