He currently leads a multi-year multimillion dollar consortium for quantum engineering education sponsored by the Department of Energy. In recognition for his research in light-matter interactions and his capability to train and mentor Black students in Physics and Engineering, Thomas was recently awarded the inaugural AIP-NSBP Joseph A. Johnson Award for Excellence and an NSF CAREER Award. Recently, Thomas was appointed as an APS DLS Distinguished Traveling Lecturer and member-at-large of the US National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, National Academies. On August 22, 2023, UC announced that Searles, along with colleagues Zizwe Chase and Daniela Tuninetti, will lead a new national consortium, ReACT-QISE, aimed at educating the next generation of quantum engineers, and providing pathways into quantum computing workforce for groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. Other intuitions include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and schools serving predominantly female students.

After graduating with her doctorate and completing her postdoctoral position at Harvard, Dr. Mason moved on to a faculty position at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, eventually becoming the Rosalyn S. Yalow Professor of Physics. While there, she directed the Illinois Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and also served as founding director of the Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (I-MRSEC). Currently, Dr. Mason is the dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago. She specializes in experimental studies of quantum materials, with a research focus on the electronic properties of nanoscale and correlated systems, such as nano-scale wires, atomically thin membranes, and nanostructured superconductors. Her research is relevant to applications involving nanoscale and quantum computing elements. 

Dr. Mason is very active in the physics community. In addition to maintaining a rigorous research program and teaching, Mason works to increase diversity in the physical sciences, particularly through mentoring, and is former chair of the APS Committee on Minorities, where she helped initiate the “National Mentoring Community.” Mason can also be seen promoting science on local TV, at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and in a TED talk on “Scientific Curiosity.” Among her many honors, she is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been recognized for her work with awards, including the 2009 Denise Denton Emerging Leader Award, the 2012 APS Maria Goeppert Mayer Award, and the 2019 APS Bouchet Award. 

As a young man, Gates’s parents always stressed the importance of education.  At the age of eight, his father brought him a set of Encyclopedia Britannica, which would spark his interest in science.  In 1969, when he graduated high school, his father encouraged him to enroll into MIT.  He completed his B.S. degree in mathematics and physics in 1973 and his Ph.D. in physics in 1977.  His thesis, “Symmetry Principles in Selected Problems of Field Theory,” was the first at MIT to deal with symmetry.

After graduating he attended Harvard University as a junior fellow from 1977 to 1980.  After a short stint with the California Institute of Technology, he accepted an assistant professor in applied mathematics position at MIT in 1982.  Then in 1984 he joined the University of Maryland as an associate professor in physics.  The same year, Gates co-authored the book Superspace, or One thousand and one lessons in supersymmetry, the first comprehensive book on supersymmetry.  He briefly left UMD from 1990 to 1993 to teach at Howard University before returning to UMD in 1994.  In 1998, Gates was named the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, becoming the first African American to hold an endowed chair in physics at a major university in the United States.  

Dr. Sylvester James Gates has received numerous honors and awards.  In 2009, President Barack Obama named him as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.  He is the first recipient of the American Physical Society’s Edward A. Bouchet Award.  In 2013, Gates was the recipient of the National Medal of Science and he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.  Gates is the author of more than 200 research papers and has been featured in several video documentaries, and several national televised spots, including a TurboTax commercial in 2016.  In 2018, Gates was elected to the presidential line of the American Physical Society: he began serving as its vice president in 2019, served as president in 2021, and past president in 2022

Today, Dr. Gates holds the Clark Leadership Chair in Science with the physics department at the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland.   He is a strong advocate for science, technology, engineering, education and being able to easily explain complex physics theories to non-physics audiences.

Motivated by her parents who strongly encouraged and valued education, Dr. Jackson, attended an accelerated program in both math and science at Roosevelt High School, and graduated at the top of her class in 1964.  After graduation, she began studying theoretical physics at MIT.  She graduated with her bachelors and decided to stay on at MIT for her doctorate work.  As a Ph.D. student, Dr. Jackson, studied elementary particle theory under Dr. James Young.  When she completed her Ph.D. in 1973, she was the first African American to graduate with a Ph.D. from MIT and only the second African American woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in physics.

After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Jackson held several positions, including: a research associate at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois; visiting scientist at CERN in Switzerland; scientists at AT&T Bell Lab; lecturing professor at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; and a faculty member of Rutgers University in New Jersey.  In 1995, President Bill Clinton appointed Dr. Jackson to serve as Chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), becoming the first woman and African American to hold this position.  Then in July of 1999, she became the 18th president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), which is the oldest technological research university in the United States.  She was also the first woman and African American to hold this position. Dr. Jackson stepped down as president of RPI on July 1, 2022, after 23 years. 

In 2005, Time Magazine called Dr. Jackson “perhaps the ultimate role model for women in science”. Among her many accomplishments, she was the first woman to serve as president of the National Society of Black Physicists in 1983.  In 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Jackson as Co-Chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory. She was appointed an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in 2012. In 2018, she was awarded by the Hutchins Center for African American Research with the W.E.B DuBois medal. In 2019, the American Physical Society Forum on Physics and Society awarded her the Joseph A. Burton Forum Award. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Hans Christian Oersted Medal from the American Association of Physics Teachers.[49] Also in 2021, she received, from the UC Berkeley Academic Senate, the Clark Kerr Award for distinguished leadership in higher education. In addition to the doctorate degree she holds at MIT, she has been award over 50 honorary doctoral degrees.   

Dr. Jackson is married to Dr. Morris A. Washington, a professor in physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and they have one son.

Through middle and high school, she was involved in several extracurricular activities including student government (being elected class president both in middle and high school), cheerleading, chess, and poetry. Aside from her extracurricular, her mentors stressed the importance of getting good grades so that she could earn scholarships, which led to her being the first in her family to attend college. After her high school graduation, Green attended a summer program in computer science at Xavier University of Louisiana.  She then enrolled into Alabama A&M with a full scholarship and received a bachelor’s degree in physics and optics in 2003.  She then enrolled into the University of Alabama Birmingham on a full scholarship and received her master’s in physics in 2009 and Ph.D. in physics in 2012.  She was the second black woman and he fourth black person ever to earn a doctoral degree in physics from the University of Alabama Birmingham.  She is also one of 66 black women to earn a Ph.D. in physics in the United States between 1973 and 2012.

After graduation, Dr. Green spent five years at Comprehensive Cancer Center, and one year at the Department of Pathology.  A significant event of her life would guide her towards her work with cancer.  Between her undergraduate and graduate work, Green's aunt was diagnosed with cancer, but refused to go through treatment. Green spent about three months taking care of her aunt until she passed away. However, her uncle was also diagnosed with cancer three months after her aunt's death. While tending to her uncle, Green watched as her uncle suffered from the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, which, to her, seemed little better than what her aunt went through. These experiences led to Green's interest in developing new cancer treatments.

While conducting her doctoral research, Green developed a method to insert nanoparticles into cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells. The solution of nanoparticles heats up due to directed laser radiation, which then destroys the cancer cells. She first tested her ideas with cancer cells in a petri dish, then moved on to small animal models using mice.

Following graduate school, Dr. Green became an assistant professor at Tuskegee University. She recently received a $1.1 million grant from the Veterans Affairs’ Office of Research & Development to begin clinical trial. She now serves as an Assistant Professor of Physiology at Morehouse College School of Medicine, in Atlanta, Georgia.  Among her awards, she has received the 2001 Torch Bearer Award for the National Society of Black Engineers, the 2002 Alabama A&M University President’s Award, 2007 National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Program Fellowship Honorable Mention, and the 2016 Veterans Affairs Historically Black Colleges and Universities Career Development Award. Dr. Green was named in the 2016 Root 100 by The Root magazine and the 2016 Ebony Power 100 by Ebony magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential African Americans” in the United States. She was also honored on BET and BETHer with the 2018 Breast Cancer Advocate of the Year Award and named as a 2019 Business Insider Top 30 Under 40 in Healthcare.

Delfyett received his B.E. (E.E.) degree from the City College of New York in 1981 and his M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Rochester in 1983. Delfyett then returned to the City University of New York and went on to graduate from there with a Master’s in Philosophy and Ph.D. degrees in 1987 and 1988, respectively.  His Ph.D. thesis was focused on developing a real time ultrafast spectroscopic probe to study molecular and phonon dynamics in condensed matter using optical phase conjugation techniques.

In 1988, Dr. Delfyett joined Bell Communication Research (Bellcore) as a member of the technical staff where he focused on generating ultrafast high power optical pulses from semiconductor diode lasers.  His research finding resulted in several important accomplishments for Dr. Delfyett, including; the most powerful modelocked semiconductor laser diode, the demonstration of an optically distributed clocking network for high speed digital switches and supercomputer applications, and the first observation of the optical nonlinearity induced by the cooling of highly excited electron-hole pairs in semiconductor optical amplifiers.

Dr. Peter Delfyett joined the faculty at the College of Optics and Photonics and the Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL) at the University of Central Florida in 1993.  Today, he holds the titles of University Trustee Chair and Pegasus Professor of Optics and Photonics, ECE & Physics, and Director of the Townes Laser Institute.  He leads an Ultrafast Photonics Group, that conducts cutting-edge experimental research in seven state-of-the-art laboratories and the group focusses on ultrafast high power optical pulses from semiconductor diode lasers, for applications in applied photonic networks and laser induced materials modification.

In addition to his work as a professor and scientists, from 1995 to 2006, he served as the Associate Editor of IEEE Photonics Technology Letters; was the Executive Editor of IEEE LEOS Newsletter; and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.  He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, Fellow of IEEE/LEOS, and was a member of the Board of Governors of IEEE-LEOS from 2000 to 2002.  He is a Founding Member in NSF’s Scientists and Engineers in the School Program, which is a program to teach 8th graders about the benefits of science, engineering, and technology in society.   He also helped found “Raydiance, Inc.” a company developing high power, ultrafast laser systems, based on his research, for applications in medicine, defense, material processing, biotech and other key technological markets.  In 2008, Dr. Delfyett was elected as the President of the National Society of Black Physicists.  He served two terms.

Among his numerous awards and accolades, Dr. Delfyett has been awarded the National Science Foundation’s Presidential Faculty Fellow Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, which is awarded to the nation’s top twenty young scientists.  U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine recognized him in 1993 as “Most Promising Engineer,” and, in 2000 with the “Outstanding Alumnus Achievement.”  In 2011, he was the recipient of the Edward Bouchet Award from the American Physical Society for his significant scientific contributions in ultrafast optical device physics and semiconductor diode based ultrafast lasers, and for his exemplary and continuing efforts in the career development of underrepresented minorities in science and engineering. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and The Optical Society. Delfyett was also elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2021 for contributions to development and commercialization of low-noise, high-power ultrafast semiconductor lasers

More information about Dr. Charles Brown II’s research can be found on his group site.
https://brownlab.yale.edu/index.html 

Dr. Ronald Gamble is a Theoretical Astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Director of the Cosmic Pathfinders Program, and a member of NSBP since 2009.

Dr. Amber V. Young
Planetary Systems Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
@CDBrownII

February 7, 2024.
Written by: Dr. Ronald Gamble

A native of Reading, PA, Dr. Amber V. Young is a Pathways Research Assistant in the Planetary Systems Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD where her primary focus is on detention methods for biosignature gases in exoplanet atmospheres. As an Astrobiologist, Dr. Young uses climate and photochemical modeling tools to model the atmospheres of terrestrial planets to understand and characterize signatures that are indicative of life. She is particularly interested in characterizing the detectability of known biosignature gases (e.g., O2, CH4) and chemical disequilibrium signatures using atmospheric modeling and retrieval analysis techniques. 

Dr. Young’s journey into astrobiology and exoplanet atmospheres began with a bachelor of science in planetary sciences & astronomy from Pennsylvania State University (2016). She holds a master of science in physics from Fisk University (2019) and a Ph.D. in planetary sciences & astronomy from Northern Arizona University (2023). Dr. Young is recipient of the President’s Freshmen Award (2012), the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Scholarship (2015), and most recently the NASA Pathways Fellowship (2023). Dr. Young is currently engaged in developing observational strategies for characterizing habitable exoplanets using an observational decision tree framework approach applicable to future direct imaging missions like the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO).

Along with her search for “habitable worlds” contributing to NASA’s next generation flagship observatory, Dr. Young served as a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation mentor.

Dr. Ronald Gamble is a Theoretical Astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Director of the Cosmic Pathfinders Program, and a member of NSBP since 2009.

He applied to Stanford University and was accepted where he studied under Nobel Laureates Arthur L. Schawlow and Theodor Hansch and received his M.S. degree in physics in 1978  and soon followed his Ph.D. degree in physics in 1982. When he was in graduate school earning his Master's degree he had an opportunity to work at Telephone Laboratories in the Solar Physics Group, and as a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory in the Solid State, Physics Department until 1976, which strengthened his research background even more. He followed by working at Coring Inc. where he was given the title of senior scientist in the applied physics department. He then moved to California in 1985 and was hired as a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the Applied Technology Section until 1990. Then he continued his work as a research scientist at for Grumman Aerospace Corporation where he directed the Sensor Sciences and Materials Structures Groups at the Grumman Corporate Research Center.

Finally, Dr. Lyons joined the faculty of Hampton University and was named the University Endowed Professor of Physics where he served as the director of the Research Center for Optical Physics. While at Hampton University he taught several courses but was known most for his outstanding work teaching introductory physics with calculus, his care for students is something that could not be replicated. He was one of the primary professors in the newly established Science and Co-PI for the Stem Scholars Program. Dr. Lyons has had several U.S. patents and has been awarded over fifteen research grants throughout his career. He has been awarded contracts related to the use of distributed Bragg reflection sensors for commercial applications and he has created several projects for the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, and the National Institute of Health. He has been recognized by the Upward Bound program for directing successful programs that center on mentoring college students in STEM and he has been recognized by the American Physical Society. He retired from Hampton University in 2022. 

The Writer: Angelina Gallego
My name is Angelina Ramona Gallego an Alumnus of Hampton University (B.S. Physics) and a student of Dr. Donald Lyons Sr. I am currently a graduate student in the physics department at the University of Minnesota in both Physics and Science Education where I am projected to receive both M.S. and M.Ed. this spring 2024. I am a current educator teaching at Central Senior High School in Saint Paul, MN, and in the physics realm bringing awareness to the equity problem in physics for women and minorities. It was an absolute honor to do research and write this short bio about Dr. Lyons. He was my favorite teacher at Hampton University, he believed in all of us with his entire heart and spent so much of his own time helping so many students believe in themselves and their mathematical abilities. Dr. Lyons has so many things that make him a person in Black Physics history but we should not forget the impact he had and continues to have on his students which speaks volumes about not just his scientific and research abilities but his amazing character and love for teaching. Please check out the digital library on thehistorymakers.org to learn more about him. 

Citations 
February 19, 2021 - Dr. Donald Lyons - national society of black ... - NSBP. (n.d.-a). https://nsbp.org/blogpost/1914810/365928/February-19-2021--Dr-Donald-Lyons
Donald Lyons, sr.’s biography. The HistoryMakers. (n.d.). https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/donald-lyons-sr
Hampton University Annual Report 2018-2019

As a youngster, Neal was intrigued with the excitement and liberation associated with the hobby of amateur radio.  He contributes this early experience as the key to his lifelong interest in science.  After he graduated high school, he enrolled at Indiana University.  He received his B.S. in physics with honors in 1961.  He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1966.  Eventually, Dr. Neal began a career in higher education as a professor in physics at Indiana University in 1967. In 1976 to 1981, he served as the Dean for Research and Graduate Development at Indiana University.  From 1981 to 1986 he served as the Provost at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.  In 1987, he returned to his alma mater University of Michigan to become chairman of the Department of Physics.  In the early 90s, Dr. Neal began participating in the DZERO collaboration that announced the discovery of the top quark in 1995.  In the early phases of this experiment, the Michigan group was responsible for designing, implementing, and analyzing data from the Intercryostat Detector.

Dr. Neal served as the Samuel A. Goudsmit Professor of Physics, Interim President Emeritus, and Vice President Emeritus for Research at the University of Michigan.  From 2000-2015 he was Director of the U-M ATLAS Project.  While serving as the director, he hired most the research group, including Jianming Qian, who chaired a subcommittee that led to the discovery of the Higgs Boson. Neal's research group works as part of the ATLAS experiment hosted at CERN in Geneva. 

Outside of research and academia, Dr. Homer Neal served as a board member of the Ford Motor Company from 1997 to 2014.  He is also a Director of the Lounsbery Foundation and a current member of the Council for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History on the Mall.  He has served as a member of the National Research Council Board on Physics and Astronomy.  From 1980 to 1986, he served as a member of the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and as the Chairman of the Physics Advisory Committee of NSF.  In 2008, Neal co-authored the book, Beyond Sputnik: U.S. Science Policy in the 21st Century, a popular textbook and website on science policy.  He has served as a member of the American Physical Society’s (APS) Panel on Public Affairs and as the APS President in 2016.  

Among the numerous awards and accolades received by Dr. Homer Neal, he is a recipient of the American Physical Society’s Edward Bouchet Award. He is also a recipient of a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, the Stony Brook Medal, and the Indiana University Distinguished Alumni Service Award. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the AAAS, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He also holds Honorary Doctorates from Indiana University, Notre Dame University and Michigan State University.  

Dr. Neal passed away May 23, 2018 at the age of 75. On 14 April 2023, Professor Neal was honored by the University of Michigan dedicating the Homer A. Neal Laboratory to him. The Neal Laboratory is the first academic building on Central Campus to be named after a Black member of the University of Michigan community.

In 1942, McAfee joined the United States Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. His knowledge and mathematical skillset propelled him onto the Project Diana team.  Project Diana was a scientific collaboration in which engineers and scientists studied the Earth’s relationship to the moon via radar signal echoing.  He contributed the necessary theoretical calculations including a radar cross-section of the moon, radar coverage pattern, and the distance to the moon, all of which were crucial to the project’s success.   On January 10, 1946, the team successfully received the echoing signals between the Earth and the moon.  After the success of the signal echoing project, he received the Rosenwald Fellowship to continue his doctoral degree at Cornell University.  McAfee earned his Ph.D. in Physics in 1949, focusing on nuclear collisions under the advisement of Hans Bethe.  Bethe would go onto win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967. Upon completion of his doctoral studies, McAfee rejoined the United States Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories at Fort Monmouth.  His contributions included nuclear weapons systems testing and satellite instrumentation. He was honored with the Secretary of the Army Research and Study Fellowship in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, which gave him an opportunity to accept a post-doctoral appointment at Harvard University.  It is during this time (1959-1960), that McAfee and his colleagues discovered that high altitude nuclear explosions could cause communications blackouts.  In 1961, McAfee received the first U.S. Army Research and Development Achievement Award. He was eventually promoted to GS-16, the highest civilian rank achieved to date by any African-American person.

Dr. Walter McAfee was posthumously honored when U.S. government officials created the McAfee Center at Fort Monmouth, a facility containing the Information and Intelligence Warfare Electronic Directorate. After his death a research building at Aberdeen Proving Ground was named in his honor (2011) and he was inducted into the Army Material Command's Hall of Fame (2015).

Unfortunately, after completing his dissertation, Bouchet was unable to find a university teaching position after college, probably because of racial discrimination. Bouchet moved to Philadelphia in 1876 and took a position at the Philadelphia's Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheyney University of Pennsylvania), where he taught physics and chemistry for the next 26 years. Bouchet spent the next several years in several different teaching positions around the country. In 1916, Bouchet returned home to New Haven in poor health, and died in 1918 at age 66.

Dr. Bouchet's impact on physics still resonates today around the world. The American Physical Society (APS Physics) confers the Edward A. Bouchet Award on some of the nation's outstanding physicists for their contribution to physics. The Edward Bouchet Abdus Salam Institute was founded in 1988 by the late Nobel Laureate, Professor Abdus Salam under the direction of the founding Chairman Charles S. Brown. In 2005, Yale and Howard University founded the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society in his name.