Soni Olufemi Olubunmi Oyekan is a Nigerian-American chemical engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, author, mentor and educator. Oyekan is the President and CEO of Prafis Energy Solutions, an oil refining and energy consulting company. During his career he has been involved in both research and development and management at a number of major oil companies. He holds patents and has made other contributions in the areas of chemical engineering, oil refining, and catalytic systems, including the publication of Catalytic Naphtha Reforming Process (2018).
Kristina M. Johnson is an American business executive and academic administrator.
The National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers or NOBCChE is a nonprofit, professional organization. NOBCChE's goal is to increase the number of minorities in science, technology, and engineering fields. The organization accomplishes this by creating bonds with professionals working at science-related companies and faculty at local school districts in order to get more minorities to pursue a career in science and engineering fields. NOBCChE focuses on establishing diversity programs for the professional development of young kids and to spread knowledge in science and engineering. NOBCChE chapters can be found nationwide.
Cato T. Laurencin FREng SLMH is an American engineer, physician, scientist, innovator and a University Professor of the University of Connecticut.
James McEwen is a Canadian biomedical engineer and the inventor of the microprocessor-controlled automatic tourniquet system, which is now standard for 15,000-20,000 procedures daily in operating rooms worldwide. Their widespread adoption and use has significantly improved surgical safety, quality and economy. McEwen is President of Western Clinical Engineering Ltd., a biomedical engineering research and development company and he is a director of Delfi Medical Innovations Inc., a company he founded to commercialize some results of that research and development. He is also an adjunct professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, in the Department of Orthopaedics and in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of British Columbia.
Aliasger K. Salem is the Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Iowa and Bighley Chair and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy. Salem's academic appointment at the University of Iowa is based in the College of Pharmacy, with additional secondary appointments in the College of Dentistry, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, and the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prior to joining the University of Iowa in 2004, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed his PhD at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Nottingham in the UK.
Hattie Carwell is an American physicist and former scientist with the United States Department of Energy and the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 1990, she became a program manager for high energy and nuclear programs with the DOE San Francisco Operations Office. She additionally was a lead operation engineer at the Berkeley Site Office from 1994 to 2006. She has also contributed to several non-profit organizations with the goal of promoting diversity within STEM-related fields.
Jennie Hwang is an international businesswoman, entrepreneur, engineer, scientist, author, and speaker. She is the national president of the Surface Mount Technology Association, head of H-Technologies Group and the first woman to receive a PhD from Case Western Reserve University in Materials Science and Engineering.
Saundra Yancy McGuire is the Director Emerita of the Center for Academic Success and a retired professor of chemistry at Louisiana State University. She is best known for her work on science education, having written several papers and books on the subject. Her interests focus on improving student learning by involving faculty in metacognitive learning strategies.
Malika Jeffries-EL is an American chemist and professor of chemistry at Boston University studying organic semiconductors. Specifically, her research focuses on developing organic semiconductors that take advantage of the processing power of polymers and the electronic properties of semiconductors to create innovative electronic devices. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2018.
Sharon Loretta Haynie is an American chemist who develops biocatalysis for green chemistry. She is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society. Haynie was the first woman to be awarded the NOBCChE Henry Aaron Hill Award in 2006 and the first woman to win the Percy L. Julian Award in 2008.
The Percy L. Julian Award was first given in 1975 by the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). The award is given every one to two years. It honors black scientists who have made significant contributions to the areas of pure or applied research in science or engineering.
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 addition to contributing research work, he is notable as a mentor and advocate for increasing minority participation in science where he was a founders of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).
Isiah Manuel Warner is the Boyd and Phillip W. West Professor of Surface and Analytical Chemistry and the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Louisiana State University. He’s also a professor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Warner has won numerous national and international awards for chemistry and mentoring of students in the sciences. He has published over 350 refereed publications and has several patents.
Lance Collins is an engineer and professor for mechanical and aerospace engineering at Virginia Tech. He was previously the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering at the Cornell University College of Engineering and is now the inaugural vice president and executive director of the new Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.
Linda Celida Meade-Tollin is an American biochemist and cancer researcher. In her research at the University of Arizona, she studied DNA damage, angiogenesis, and cancer invasion & metastasis; directed the Office of Women in Science and Engineering there; and was the first female chairperson of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).
Christine Sharon Grant is an American chemical engineer who is the Associate Dean of Faculty Advancement at North Carolina State University. Her research considers surface and environmental science. She is the 2022 President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Winifred Burks-Houck was an environmental organic chemist and the first female president of National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), serving from 1993 – 2001.
Jason Kelby Sello is an American chemist who is a professor of chemistry at Brown University. His research looks to develop antibacterial agents and technologies for bioenergy. In 2020, he was named by Cell Press as one of 1000 inspiring Black scientists in America.
