Program Leader Spotlight: World Scholars Academy

Dr. Gerard Dericks is the director of World Scholars Academy, which offers elite summer courses designed and taught by world-leading professional scholars. To learn more about World Scholars Academy click HERE. 

What programs does World Scholars Academy offer?

World Scholars Academy offers academic summer programs designed and taught by world-leading professional scholars. Courses are delivered online and on-location in Hawaii for students from ages 12 to 18.

Online summer courses include:

• Business
• Career exploration
• Computer Science
• Creative writing
• Engineering
• International relations
• Law
• Mathematics
• Medicine

Students also have the option to launch their business future with the World Business Academy, a two-week intensive program for students ages 15 to 18. Led by renowned instructors, the course explores high-level economics and business concepts. Whether they dream of a business career or just want to understand the global economy, investment strategies, or marketing tactics, World Business Academy equips participants with a strong foundation for future academic and financial success.

Younger students ages 12 to 14 can also take a two-week course, Discover Business Academy, which introduces the fundamental business and economics concepts.

Internship Programs

World Scholars Academy also offers internship programs in business, medicine, law, and engineering. These online internships pair students with world-class experts in their field. Students collaborate with their peers and mentor to conduct cutting-edge research and co-author and submit a paper to the academy's open-access journal, World Scholars Review. Participants gain valuable research skills and experience while standing out on their college applications.

What do you hope students will gain from attending World Scholars Academy?

Students at World Scholars Academy have the opportunity to acquire elite insights into their chosen discipline. You might think that most of the fields of economics, medicine, or law is settled, but in fact there remains a great deal that is often misunderstood, even by apparent experts.

We're giving kids tools to achieve higher levels of success in their disciplines and giving them a deeper understanding of the world. They'll take that knowledge and use it to improve their own lives and communities.

Learning from high-level experts in their field empowers students to grow their self-confidence and develop the belief that they, too, can achieve similar levels of academic success.

We aim to inspire our students to want to learn and achieve more. You can't achieve success without a lifelong dedication to learning. We impart actionable knowledge via our one-on-one tutorials on taking that next step of the journey, including helping students define and clarify what they want to study at university — and what to focus on during their undergraduate career.

Helping students realize these goals continually inspires me, and I take great pride in it.

What inspired you to assume a leadership role at World Scholars Academy?

I have always resonated with the classical spirit of the Renaissance and valued the learning of timeless principles over transitory fads.

It is increasingly hard to find academic institutions that pay more than lip service to the higher classical ideals, which emphasize:

• Championing realism and skepticism
• Learning to think independently
• Aspiring towards a high standard of living
• Bettering yourself through education.

Raphael’s fresco The School of Athens, featuring Plato and his leading disciple Aristotle surrounded by scientific luminaries throughout history, has served as inspiration for the type of environment that I want to cultivate for students at World Scholars Academy.

Describe your role at World Scholars Academy. How does an average day look?

It’s hard to say that there's ever an average day. We constantly have many irons on the fire, from evaluating student applications or responding to customer inquiries, to interviewing aspiring WSA tutors. These activities vary throughout the year.

What doesn’t change is our commitment to continuous improvement of the student experience within our programs. When we identify a great opportunity, we execute it.

Describe a challenging situation you faced in this role and how you handled it.

One of the earliest issues we faced was finding the best place to accommodate our in-person summer camps. We considered many locations, and Hawaii held the most appeal because of the variety of natural and cultural adventures it offered our students.

Once we chose Hawaii, we had to narrow down exactly where we'd have our home base. It was an arduous process, but we ultimately partnered with an experienced team at a world-class location to build a truly exceptional summer program.

Please share one of your most memorable or impactful experiences you've had at World Scholars Academy.

Our many student testimonials never fail to leave an impression on me. But when I hear from a student that they felt lost and unsure about what they might study at university and now have a clear direction — or they've been inspired to stretch further academically and professionally? That kind of impact holds a special place in my heart.