Lifetime Achievement Scholar

Dr. Walter Massey

Dr. Walter Massey, president of Morehouse College, served as director of Argonne National Laboratory, as the University of Chicago's Vice President for Research, and as founding Chair of the University of Chicago Development Corp. He has directed the National Science Foundation and served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of California System until being chosen Morehouse's ninth president in 1995. His vision for the college, a private liberal arts college for African-American men, is to place it among the finest private undergraduate liberal arts colleges in the world. Massey earned his B.S. from Morehouse in 1958 and his M.S. and his Ph.D. in physics from Washington University in St. Louis. He then held research and teaching positions at the University of Illinois, Brown University and the University of Chicago. Massey has served as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Trustee of Brown University and Rand Corporation, membership on Argonne's Board of Governors in 2004, Co-chair of the AAAS Steering Committee for the Project to Strengthen the Scientific and Engineering Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, a member of the National Science Board, on the visiting committee for the physics departments of MIT and Harvard, and on the Superconducting Supercollider Site Evaluation Committee of the National Academies of Science and Engineering.

Dr. Mae Jemison

Dr. Mae C. Jemison is founder of BioSentient Corporation and is the first woman of color in the world to go into space, flying aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in September 1992. She has served six years as a NASA astronaut and served as NASA’s first Science Mission Specialist performing experiments in material science, life science and human adaptation to weightlessness. Afterwards, she founded the technology consulting firm The Jemison Group, Inc. She also ran The Jemison Institute for Advancing Technologies in Developing Countries and founded the international science camp The Earth We Share™ for students 12-16 years old. Dr. Jemison has served as the Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia and was a general practice doctor in Los Angeles. Presently, she serves as Chair of the Texas State Product Development and Small Business Incubator Board and Chair of Texas State Biotechnology and Life Sciences Industry Cluster. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Scholastic, Inc., Valspar Corporation and Gen-Probe Inc. Dr. Jemison hold membership in the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, the National Medical Association Hall of Fame, the Texas Science Hal of Fame and an inductee of National Women’s Hall of Fame. She is the winner of the Kilby Science Award and was selected as one of the top seven women leaders in a presidential ballot national straw poll. Dr. Jemison is the author of Find Where the Wind Goes, has appeared on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, hosted the Discovery Channel’s World of Wonder and was chosen one of People Magazine’s “World’s 50 Most Beautiful People”. She currently serves as an environmental studies professor at Dartmouth College and was an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Dr. Jemison received her undergraduate degrees in Chemical Engineering and African and Afro-American Studies from Stanford University and received her medical degree from Cornell University.

Esteria Johnson

Esteria Johnson is Chief Learning Consultant for Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services and the manager of Lockheed Martin Apprenticeship Programs. She was the chief architect for Lockheed Martin’s Information Technology Registered Apprenticeship Program for high school underrepresented students. Through the program, African American students are employed, coached, trained and mentored, as they begin their careers at the world’s largest aerospace corporation. The program has recently won the 2006 Pennsylvania Workforce Leadership Award. Johnson recently architected a new national apprenticeship model for Chapter 31 (disabled) veterans. This new Lockheed Martin program has received the 2007 U.S. Department of Labor Private Sector Award for hiring and training disabled veterans. Additionally, Johnson is responsible for managing multiple Strategic Development Programs including the Information Technology Apprenticeship, K-12 Initiatives, and Early Career Talent Management. She holds a master’s degree in Instructional Systems Design from the Pennsylvlania State University, is a certified teacher and a former Director of Education. She is a key of member of the Learning Strategy Council and other strategic teams, including Capture Process, Focus on Ability, and Shape the Future Workforce.

Dr. Mickens

Ronald E. Mickens is a Fuller E. Callaway professor of physics at Clark Atlanta University. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Vanderbilt University and has held postdoctoral positions at the Center for Theoretical Physics-MIT, the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics and Vanderbilt University. He has published more than 280 research papers, written six books, and edited nine volumes. Professor Mickens serves on the editorial board of several research journals, including the Journal of Difference Equations and Application and the International Journal of Evolution Equations. His scholarly writings have appeared in reference works such as African American, American National Biography, Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists, Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History, Notable Black American Men, the Society for Mathematical Biology, the History of Science Society and Notable Black American Women, for which he is an elected fellow. His current research interests include nonlinear oscillations, difference equations, and numerical integration of differential equations using nonstandard finite differences schemes, mathematical modeling of periodic diseases, and the history/sociology of African Americans in science.

Richard McGinnis

Richard McGinnis received his B.S. in Chemistry for the University of California and his A.M. and PhD from Harvard University. He has served as pre-medical adviser, chair of the Chemistry Department, Dean of the Natural Sciences Division, Acting Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Acting Provost for Tougaloo College. There he implemented a self-paced, audio-tutorial chemistry course and was instrumental in increasing the role of on-campus research for faculty and students. Dr. McGinnis has performed research at Brown University, where he was a visiting professor, and at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the University of Colorado. He has served as Project Director/Principal Investigator for the Health Careers Opportunity Program and the LSAMP/MGE programs with the University of Alabama. He was the Co-PI for Tougaloo’s HBCU-UP grant and is the Site Coordinator for the Health Professions Alliance Partnership program with the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. Dr. McGinnis has been honored by Tougaloo College, the Minority Medical Education Foundation of Mississippi, the National Association of Minority Medical Educators and the Mississippi Medical and Surgical Association.

Vice Admiral Adam M. Robinson Jr.

Vice Admiral Adam Robinson, a native of Louisville, Ky., is the Chief of the Navy Medical Corps. He entered the naval service in 1977 and holds a Doctor of Medicine from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, through the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program. Following completion of his surgical internship at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, he was commissioned.

Vice Adm. Robinson’s first assignment was as a General Medical Officer, Branch Medical Clinic, Fort Allen, Puerto Rico, before reporting to the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., in 1978 to complete a residency in General Surgery. His subsequent duty assignments included: Staff Surgeon, U.S. Naval Hospital, Yokosuka, Japan, and Ship’s Surgeon, USS Midway (CV-41).

After completing a fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery at Carle Foundation Hospital, University of Illinois School of Medicine (1984-85), Vice Adm. Robinson reported to the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, as the Head of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Division. While there, he was called to temporary duty in 1987 as Ship’s Surgeon in USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and in 1988 as Ship’s Surgeon in USS Coral Sea (CV-43).

Vice Adm. Robinson reported to Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va., in 1990 as the Head of the General Surgery Department and Director of General Surgery Residency Program. He was appointed Acting Medical Director for the facility in 1994. While at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Vice Adm. Robinson earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of South Florida. In 1995, Vice Adm. Robinson reported to the Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, as the Force Medical Officer serving in that capacity for two years. Following that assignment, he reported to Naval Hospital Jacksonville in 1997 as the Executive Officer. In January 1999, as Fleet Hospital Jacksonville Commanding Officer, Vice Adm. Robinson commanded a detachment of the fleet hospital as a medical contingent to Joint Task Force Haiti (Operation New Horizon/Uphold Democracy).

Dr. Diola Bagayoko

Dr. Diola Bagayoko, Director of the Timbuktu Academy at Southern University, is a Southern University System Distinguished Professor of Physics and statewide Director of the Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation program (www.ls-lamp.org). A native of Bamako, Mali (in West Africa), he earned the BS degree in Physics and Chemistry from the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Bamako, the MS in the Physics from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the Ph.D. in condensed matter theory from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Dr. Bagayoko has over 130 publications, with over 80 of them in theoretical physics and 50 on teaching, mentoring, and learning. Established in 1990, the Timbuktu Academy is a systemic mentoring, academic enhancement, and research participation program for elementary to undergraduate students, with the primary focus on science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM) disciplines (www.phys.subr.edu/timbuktu.htm). The Academy received the US Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in 2003. Financial support for the Timbuktu Academy has come from the Office of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Louisiana Board of Regents, NASA, and the ExxonMobil Foundation (through the Bernard Harris Foundation).

Youth Winner

Tyrome C. Miller

Tyrome C. Miller II is a sophomore student in the Science and Technology program at Oxon Hill High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Tyrome has a strong desire to pursue a career as an Aeronautical Engineer or Biologist. He is a member of the varsity wrestling team, a Cadet 2nd Lt. in the Air Force JROTC, and has made the honor roll since elementary school. Tyrome is an active volunteer in his community. He has volunteered with projects such as Senior Days, area parades and various church ministries.

At Oxon Hill Tyrome is an active member of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA); a junior member of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and he’s the secretary and gesture for the Science and Technology Advisory Board (TAB). Tyrome has attended the University of District of Columbia’s Science, Math & Engineering, and Aerospace Academy Summer Program since 1999. Which has allowed him to participate in special trips to visit NASA and other activities specifically for excelling students.

Tyrome is an energetic, enthusiastic young man who is determined to make a positive difference in his home, community, country, and the World.