Anthony Michael Johnson is an American experimental physicist, a Professor of Physics, and a Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). He is the Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research (CASPR), also situated on campus at UMBC. Since his election to the 2002 term as president of the Optical Society, formerly the Optical Society of America, Johnson has the distinction of being the first and only African-American president to date. Johnson's research interests include the ultrafast photophysics and nonlinear optical properties of bulk, nanostructured, and quantum well semiconductor structures, ultrashort pulse propagation in fibers and high-speed lightwave systems. His research has helped to better understand processes that occur in ultrafast time frames of 1 quadrillionth of a second. Ultrashort pulses of light have been used to address technical and logistical challenges in medicine, telecommunications, homeland security, and have many other applications that enhance contemporary life.
Cherry A. Murray, Ph.D., is a Professor of Physics and the Director of the Biosphere2 Institute at the University of Arizona at Tucson. She is the Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy emerita at, and former dean of, the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
Kennedy J. Reed is an American theoretical atomic physicist in the Theory Group in the Physics & Advanced Technologies Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and a founder of the National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC), a group of about 30 universities that provides physics fellowships for women and minorities.
Milton Dean Slaughter is an American theoretical and phenomenological physicist and affiliate professor of physics at Florida International University. Slaughter was a visiting associate professor of physics in the Center for Theoretical Physics, University of Maryland, College Park while on sabbatical from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) of the University of California from 1984 to 1985. He is also chair emeritus and university research professor of physics emeritus at the University of New Orleans (UNO). Prior to joining UNO as chair of the physics department: He was a postdoctoral fellow in the LANL Theoretical Division Elementary Particles and Field Theory Group (T-8); LANL Theoretical Division Detonation Theory and Applications Group (T-14) staff physicist; LANL Theoretical Division affirmative action representative and staff physicist; LANL assistant theoretical division leader for administration and staff physicist (T-DO); LANL Nuclear and Particle Physics Group staff physicist—Medium Energy Physics Division (MP-4); and LANL Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) project manager (laboratory-wide).
Jedidah C. Isler is an American astrophysicist and educator and an active advocate for diversity in STEM. She conducts research on blazars and examines the jet streams emanating from them. She is currently an Assistant professor of Astrophysics at Dartmouth College. She completed a PhD in Astrophysics at Yale in 2014, becoming the first African-American woman to do so.
Michael Dennis Feit is an American physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California.
Giulia Galli is a condensed-matter physicist. She is the Liew Family Professor of Electronic Structure and Simulations in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago and senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. She is also the director of the Midwest Integrated Center for Computational Materials. She is recognized for her contributions to the fields of computational condensed-matter, materials science, and nanoscience, most notably first principles simulations of materials and liquids, in particular materials for energy, properties of water, and excited state phenomena.
Jami Valentine Miller is a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She was the first African American woman to graduate with a PhD in physics from Johns Hopkins University. She created the website AAWIP.com, which celebrates African American Women in Physics.
Mary B. James is an American physicist and educator. She is the Dean for Institutional Diversity and the A. A. Knowlton Professor of Physics at Reed College. James specializes in particle physics and accelerators.
Elizabeth J. (Betsy) Beise is a Professor of Physics and Associate Provost at the University of Maryland, College Park. She works on quantum chromodynamics, nucleon structure and fundamental symmetries.
Sekazi Kauze Mtingwa: is an American theoretical high-energy physicist. He is a co-recipient of the 2017 Robert R. Wilson Prize for Achievement in the Physics of Particle Accelerators. He is the first African-American to be awarded the prize. Mtingwa was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2008 for "his definitive treatment of Intrabeam scattering, his contributions to the wakefield acceleration, and his early recognition of the fixed target physics potential of the next generation electron-positron collider." He also co-founded the National Society of Black Physicists in 1977 and served in various other national and international initiatives.
Georgia "Gina" D. Tourassi is the Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory health data sciences institute and adjunct Professor of radiology at Duke University. She works on biomedical informatics, computer-aided diagnosis and artificial intelligence (AI) in health care.
William Morgan Jackson is a Distinguished Research and Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at University of California, Davis and pioneer in the field of astrochemistry. His work considers cometary astrochemistry and the development of laser photochemistry to understand planetary atmospheres. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society and the American Chemical Society. In 2019 he was awarded the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Arthur B.C. Walker II Award for his research and commitment to promoting diversity. In 2021 he was awarded the American Physical Society Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize for outstanding contributions to fundamental chemical physics and spectroscopy associated with asteroids and comets, and for exemplary teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as lifelong service and inspiration to a diverse community.
Elba E. Serrano is a neuroscientist and biophysicist who holds a position as a Regent’s Professor of Biology at New Mexico State University. She is known for her contributions to research on the nervous system of gastropods, inner ear development in Xenopus, neurobiology of glia, sensory signal transduction in guard cells, and for leadership of programs that recruit, train and retain underrepresented minorities in STEM. Her research considers the central role of ion channels in the reception and transduction of stimuli and integrates methods from genetics, physiology, and anatomy. In 2020 she was named as one of 100 inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists in America
John D. Lindl is an American physicist who specializes in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). He is currently the Chief Scientist of the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Sherilynn Black is an American neuroscientist, the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement, as well as an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Medical Education at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Black’s research focuses on social neuroscience and developing interventions to promote diversity in academia. Black has been widely recognized for her commitment to faculty development and advancement and holds national appointments with the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the American Association of Medical Colleges, The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the Society for Neuroscience.
Theda M. Daniels-Race is an American engineer and Michael B. Voorhies Distinguished Professor in the Division of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Louisiana State University. Her research is in nanoelectronics, specialising in the growth and characterization of nanomaterials and hybrid electronic devices based on compound semiconductors.
Carl A. Rouse was an American physicist, working in the fields of atomic, plasma, and computational physics. Rouse was the first African American to earn a Ph.D in physics from Caltech.
Arlene Paige Maclin is an American physicist and academic administrator. Maclin was one of the first African American women to receive a PhD in physics. She is a professor at Howard University.
Nancy Haegel is an American electrical engineer, materials scientist, and solar power researcher, known for her work on semiconductors and large-scale photovoltaic energy systems. Other topics in her research include imaging electronic processes and detecting nuclear radiation. Formerly a distinguished professor of physics at the Naval Postgraduate School, she is the director of the Materials Science Center in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and a director of the Research Corporation.
