Victor Asiwe’s hard journey from Potch to the top 1% at Stanford

Victor Asiwe likes doing things the hard way.

It’s a philosophy that has taken him from a Potchefstroom high school to the hallowed halls of Stanford University in California, notching up incredible milestones along the way.

The 27-year-old actuary has graduated in the top 1% of his MBA class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the world’s top-ranked business school in many surveys. He was one of only five students to receive the top Siebel Scholarship Award.

Asiwe says the formula that took him from Potch to Stanford is simple: “Find hard problems, surround yourself with great people and then do hard things.”

Asiwe, who taught himself how to code as a teenager in the North West town, studied at the University of Cape Town and later helped Discovery Insure build its technical pricing division.

Speaking to the Sunday Times from Stanford, he is taking a breather after graduation before embarking on the next chapter of a life shaped by that philosophy.

Born in Nigeria, Asiwe moved to Potchefstroom with his family when he was six. His mother, Doris Asiwe, was a schoolteacher who later earned a PhD in industrial psychology, while his father, Prof Joseph Asiwe, was a scientist at the Agricultural Research Council, where he worked on food security in South Africa through research and development, and community engagement, later becoming a professor at the the University of Limpopo.

Education was a priority for him and his two brothers. His older brother, Daniel, is a former chess champion who was crowned Mr Africa 2021 and works in industrial relations and psychology, while his younger brother, David, is in his final year of medicine at the University of Cape Town.

Asiwe’s determination to “do hard things” started in high school. Though his mother worried the workload would be too much, he took Information Technology as an extra subject, and beyond what he learnt in class, taught himself advanced material after hours by downloading resources onto a memory stick from a school computer and studying at home without internet access. He matriculated top of his class and among the top three in North West.

At UCT he challenged himself again, entering a one-handed Rubik’s Cube competition. Because he’d been applying himself to his studies, he had not practised in six months — but he still broke the Africa record.

“That’s my favourite fun fact about me. I managed to do it in 20 seconds. But back in my Potch days when I was at the top of my game and there were no competitions around, I was managing it in 16 seconds,” he said.

He graduated from UCT with a BSc in actuarial science in 2019 — the youngest student in his cohort and one of only two to graduate with distinction — and joined Discovery through the Adrian Gore Fellowship programme. Until last year he served on the executive committee of the Association of South African Black Actuarial Professionals and continues mentoring aspiring actuaries across Africa.

It was an intense process. I took an entire month off to apply, and it wasn’t easy

—  Victor Asiwe

After his father died in 2023, Asiwe shelved plans to move into consulting and instead applied to Stanford GSB.

“It was an intense process. I took an entire month off to apply, and it wasn’t easy. I had to write a lot of essays on stuff I had been thinking about for months. There were rounds of interviews in which they really get to know your authentic self and explore what things mean the most to you and why,” he said.

After a successful first year, Asiwe was among five Stanford MBA students awarded the prestigious Siebel Scholarship for academic excellence and leadership. Each scholar receives a $35,000 (about R570,000) scholarship to put towards their final year of study.

Determined to learn from the best, he set his sights on the prestigious Winning Writing course taught by New York Times journalist Glenn Kramon, believing it would be the hardest class to get into.

Instead of waiting for a place, he approached Kramon and offered to become his course assistant, earning himself a seat.

“It was a cool experience,” he said. “I got to sit with Glenn in programmes I would not normally have been exposed to. He’s really invested in his students and gets them exposure in their home countries and op-eds published in the New York Times.”

Kramon was equally complimentary.

“I had heard many people talking about Victor, and so I was glad to take him on,” he told the Sunday Times. “I’ve known him only for a few months, but he really is exceptional.

“He’s remarkably soft-spoken, but so smart and professional. He’s engaged, asks questions that improve everybody’s understanding, and he is beloved among his class.”

Two weeks ago, friends and family travelled to Stanford to celebrate Victor’s graduation, where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar, an honour reserved for a round the top 10% of the class.

Now, weighing his next move, Asiwe has found one more challenge.

“One of the benefits of living on campus is you get access to the Stanford Golf Course, so I’m learning to play,” he said.

Sunday Times