2022 Distinguished Alumnus/a Award
Shelly Blake-Plock, Ed 2005
Shelly Blake-Plock is cofounder, president, and CEO of Yet Analytics, Inc, which creates software products that provide analytics about the way people learn. The information helps K-12, companies, and the military use data to understand learners and to improve both instruction and content. Yet Analytics is particularly known for its expertise in xAPI (data used to track people as they go through learning activities) and Total Learning Architecture. Highly active in the technical standards community, Shelly is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology. He is an officer of IEEE’s Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC), where he chairs the P9274.4.2 Working Group on Cybersecurity for xAPI, as well as technical advisory groups on xAPI and on xAPI Conformance Testing and Assessment. Shelly was managing editor of LTSC’s 2018 Technical Report on xAPI Implementation and chair of the related project P9274.4.1. He is vice-chair of the P2997 Working Group on Enterprise Learner Records and vice-chair of Project P2247.4 on AI Ethics and Adaptive Instructional Systems. He is also active online and was blogger-in-chief of TeachPaperless, which focuses on digital technology, new media, and education. Shelly received a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Education, where he has served as a mentor for current students for many years. Before founding Yet Analytics, he was a high school classroom teacher as well as a teacher-of-teachers.
J. Raymond DePaulo, Jr., Med 1972
Dr. DePaulo is a University Distinguished Service Professor and Co-Director of the Mood Disorder Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins. Following medical school, residency and intern training at Johns Hopkins, he has been an active clinician, teacher, researcher throughout his 39 years on faculty. He founded the Hopkins Affective Disorders Clinic in 1977 which grew into a multifaceted program that led patient care, teaching, and research on depression and bipolar disorder at Johns Hopkins. He was the Henry Phipps Professor and Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Medicine and Psychiatrist in Chief at Johns Hopkins from 2002 until 2016. Dr. DePaulo’s research interests focus on clinical assessment, diagnosis, causes, and treatments of mood disorders. His research group led several early genetic studies of bipolar disorder and unipolar depression. He has authored over 140 peer-reviewed scientific articles and mentored outstanding clinician scientists. Dr. DePaulo is now the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the National Network of Depression Centers. He has served on several foundation boards of directors and scientific advisory boards related to mood disorders. He has authored two books on depressive illnesses for patients and families (Understanding Depression and How to Cope with Depression). He has won a number of national awards for clinical leadership, teaching, and research in depression and bipolar disorder. He has twice been named a Forum Fellow at the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland.
Dennis Doherty, A&S 1977
Dr. Dennis E. Doherty, M.D., FCCP, is a Professor of Medicine with Emeritus distinction in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and Chandler Medical Center in Lexington, KY. He completed his medical school training (1980) and Internal Medicine residency (1983) at The Ohio State College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio, and his Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship (1986) at the University of Colorado Medical Center and National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado, where he remained on faculty for 11 years. In 1996 he relocated to the University of Kentucky to serve as Chief of the Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Division and in 2007 he became Chairman of Medicine at the Lexington VAMC. Dr. Doherty has been Principal Investigator on over 55 grants from the NIH, Veterans Administration, American Lung Association, and other granting organizations for basic science and clinical studies, and he has published over 190 articles, abstracts, and chapters about acute and chronic lung inflammation, obstructive lung disease, and pulmonary fibrosis. He has also conducted several clinical research studies in the areas of asthma, COPD, and pulmonary fibrosis. He is the immediate-past Chairman of the National Lung Health Education Program (NLHEP), a fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians, a past Chairman of the American Thoracic Society Council of state Chapter Representatives (Thoracic Societies in the U.S.), and a member of the American Thoracic Society (serving as a member of the ATS Board of Directors, the Program and Budget, Communications, Documents Development and Implementation, Marketing, and Clinicians Advisory Committees, and as a past board member of the ATS Foundation). He is current President of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), Chairman of the USP Council of the Convention, and sits on USP’s Board of Trustees and Executive Committee. For 18 consecutive years from (2003 to 2020) he was selected by his peers for inclusion in America’s Top Doctors in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, selected by his peers 15 consecutive years from 2005 to 2019 for inclusion in Best Doctors in America, and has been listed in the top 1% of U.S. pulmonologists (based on peer nomination) by U.S. News and World Report. He has been commissioned by the Governor of Kentucky as a Kentucky Colonel.
Debra Furr-Holden, BSPH 1999, A&S 1996
Reason for Nomination: Debra Furr-Holden, PhD ’99, KSAS BA ‘96 is Dean of the School of Global Public Health, New York University. Debra Furr-Holden, PhD ’99, KSAS BA ’96, is an advocate, epidemiologist, and public health professional who works with local and national policymakers to improve data-driven decision-making across a broad range of health topics and to mandate equity in all policies. With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Furr-Holden was appointed to multiple government task forces, where she is a voice for public health and health equity. Furr-Holden has worked tirelessly with the state of Michigan and the city of Flint to address public health needs during the pandemic and beyond. Her work has resulted in the elimination of the racial disparity in COVID-19 cases and deaths among the African American population in Flint. Furr-Holden is an outspoken advocate for health equity, lending her voice across media and academic outlets. She works in collaboration with communities to deploy her expertise in health disparities and health equity, drug and alcohol dependence epidemiology, psychiatric epidemiology, and prevention science. Furr-Holden holds multiple positions at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She is the C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health, the Associate Dean for Public Health Integration, and Director of the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions. Her research and advocacy in service of health equity have saved lives and improved public health in communities across the country.
Darrell Gaskin, BSPH 1995
Darrell is the William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Darrell Gaskin, PhD ’95, is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of health policy, healthcare disparities, health services research, and health economics. Through his research and professional contributions, Gaskin is advancing community, neighborhood, and market-level policies and programs that are reducing health disparities. A skilled cross-disciplinary researcher, Gaskin directs the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, which brings together the health research and program development resources of the Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing to demonstrate the efficacy of public health, social science, and medical science in mitigating health disparities. The Center’s work has a national focus alongside an emphasis on the local Baltimore community that is accomplished through both research and training. In addition to this directorship, Gaskin holds the William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professorship in Health Policy at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and a joint appointment at the School of Medicine. His current research focuses on evaluating the impact of community-based interventions and public policies on disparities in health and healthcare. In 2021, Gaskin’s outstanding professional achievements and commitment to service were recognized with his election to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Membership in the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. Gaskin lends his expertise to multiple prestigious boards and committees including notable federal, foundation, and academic organizations.
Nicole Gaudelli, A&S 2013
Dr. Gaudelli graduated from the Krieger School with a PhD in chemistry, focusing on natural product chemistry and working in Professor Craig Townsend’s lab. While at Hopkins, she had her first article published in Nature, after discovering how monobactams, a certain type of antibiotic, are produced. While pursuing postdoctoral work at Harvard, Dr. Gaudelli made another discovery, resulting in her second Nature article. The lab in which she worked, under Professor David Liu, focused on reverting single nucleotide base-pair misspellings in genes, and she developed a molecular tool (a new enzyme) that could change an adenine (A) base to a guanine (G) base. Many genetic diseases, such as Parkinson’s, result from a single-letter misspelling known as a point mutation, which Dr. Gaudelli’s new enzyme could repair. Today, Dr. Gaudelli is the director of gene editing technologies at Beam Therapeutics, where she looks to put her academic research discoveries into therapeutic practice. Beam Therapeutics recently had an initial public offering (IPO) and has a market cap of $1.3 billion. Beam has recently announced that its first development candidates will be aimed at treating sickle cell disease using Dr. Gaudelli’s technology.
Céline Gounder, BSPH 2000, PGF 2007
Céline Gounder is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center; Senior Fellow and Editor-at-Large for Public Health at the Kaiser Family Foundation and Kaiser Health News. From individual patients to broad audiences, Céline Gounder, MD, ScM ‘00, shares her expertise in roles, including medical journalist, filmmaker, podcast host, epidemiologist, and practicing HIV/infectious diseases specialist and internist. She works tirelessly to address public health issues as a medical journalist and thought leader. Gounder is best known for her coverage of the Ebola, Zika, COVID-19, opioid overdose, and gun violence epidemics. She is a frequent expert guest and writer for major news outlets and publications. Gounder’s work has long had a focus on the health of communities across the globe. She has spent years researching and responding to TB and HIV across multiple continents. Gounder spent two months volunteering as an Ebola aid worker in Guinea in 2015. While there, she also interviewed locals to understand how the crisis was affecting them, leading her to begin work on Dying to Talk, a feature-length documentary about the Ebola epidemic in Guinea. No stranger to the needs of communities in her home country, Gounder has also served as Assistant Commissioner and Director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. On November 9, 2020, she was named a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board of then U.S. president-elect Joe Biden. In recognition of Gounder’s commitments to the health of populations around the world 2017, People Magazine named her one of their “25 Women Changing the World”, and in 2021, InStyle Magazine named her one of their “50 Women Making the World a Better Place”.
Siew Lee Grand-Clement, Nurs 2006
With 20 plus years of nursing experience, including receiving her MSN from JHSON and Adult Critical Care Nurse Specialist Certification, Ms. Grand-Clement has diverse leadership experience in leading change and transforming operations to deliver results in U.S. and international health care settings. In her role as Vice President, Nursing & Quality at UPMC International, Ms. Grand-Clement drives nursing and quality initiatives throughout UPMC International multi-national locations. Ms. Grand-Clement is also the Acting Chief Operation Officer for UPMC managed greenfield hospital in China leading the design, construction, preoperational and strategic planning of this newly constructed 500-bed international standard hospital. She has strong technical expertise and a passion for patient safety and patient/family advocacy. Ms. Grand-Clement works to transform delivery of care through innovation and technological advancements throughout the nursing profession while playing an integral role in the recruitment and development of future nurse leaders. Ms. Grand-Clement is currently pursuing her DNP in Health System Executive Leadership, with the focus of Nursing Leader’s role in Health Equity & Climate Control. She is an exemplar for Johns Hopkins nursing excellence.
Paul Gurbel, A&S 1979, PGF 2007
Paul Gurbel graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in Natural Sciences in 1979 and completed his Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship at Johns Hopkins in 1987. Since 2013, he has been the Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Gurbel is an international leader in cardiovascular research and interventional cardiology. He is among the most active interventional cardiologists in America, performing over 5000 cardiac interventions. The research Center established by him at Sinai Hospital is recognized as one of the world’s leaders in thrombosis research, antiplatelet agent development, and personalized antiplatelet therapy. His research provided the solid rationale to use new potent antiplatelet agents and their implementation into clinical practice. His research results have been incorporated into the practice guidelines of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and European Society of Cardiology. In 2016, he was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland, for outstanding academic achievements in thrombosis research. Despite a full clinical load, he has authored over 500 peer- reviewed journal articles, 25 books, and monographs, including the American College of Cardiology Self-Assessment Program. He has been regularly interviewed by local TV stations focusing on his groundbreaking research activities, including a recent interview on a novel assay to detect COVID-19 and an interview with Dr. oz, a nationally well-known TV personality. My colleagues and I strongly believe that his contribution to cardiovascular research deserves to be recognized and kindly nominate him for the Distinguished Alumna award.
Edward Morse, A&S 1963, SAIS 1966
Edward Lewis Morse is an American energy economist. He is currently the Global Head of Commodities Research at Citigroup in New York. From 1969 to 1975, he taught at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. From 1979 to 1981, Morse served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Energy Policy. From 2006 to 2008, he was chief energy economist at Lehman Brothers, where he argued the oil price rises of 2007 and 2008 were an unsustainable bubble. He is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles on international relations and energy topics. He was a co-founder of PFC Energy, a Washington- based energy consultancy group. As class leader of the Bologna Class of 1966, in 2016 he launched and spearheaded with his own contributions a class fundraising effort to raise $100,000 to endow a Class of 1966 Fellowship; the goal was met and surpassed and in 2021 the class raised additional funds to bring the value of the fund to $200,000.
Gemma New, Peab 2011
Gemma New is a 2011 recipient of a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Peabody Institute. An accomplished and renowned conductor, Ms. New has not only already made significant contributions to the performing arts world, but also is the future of conducting in her field. Her accomplishments, which I will outline below, demonstrate the profound impact she has in music and the notoriety and recognition she brings to both the Peabody Institute and Johns Hopkins University. Ms. New, a native of Wellington, New Zealand, was born into a musical family. While an accomplished musician herself, she was already conducting the Christchurch Youth Orchestra as a teenager. While at Peabody, Ms. New studied with renowned faculty Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar. Upon graduation, she founded and directed the Maryland-based music collective Lunar Ensemble, with which she premiered over 30 different compositions. In 2014, Ms. New was selected as a Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; these fellows work alongside world-renowned artistic director Gustavo Dudamel, learning from the master himself, but also working with students and future generations through the LA Phil education programs. Ms. New was named the next music director for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, marking her first directorship; upon a successful debut season, her contract was extended through the 2020/2021 season. She was appointed a resident conductor with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2016 while also being appointed as music director for the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. In 2018, she became the first female conductor to ever open a concert for the St. Louis Symphony. She was appointed principal guest conductor with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, again the first woman to ever hold the post. In March 2021, Ms. New became the 12th recipient ever of The Sir George Solti Conducting Award, perhaps one of the greatest possible forms of recognition in the music world, from the Solit Foundation.
Maria Oliva-Hemker, Med 1986
Dr. Oliva-Hemker is the Stermer Family Professor of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Division Director for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and is Vice Dean for Faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Oliva-Hemker has a national and international reputation as an innovative clinician, clinical researcher, committed educator and mentor, and an energetic leader. As Division Director she has tripled the number of faculty and has overseen the creation of several subspecialty clinical programs leading to the division's largest clinical expansion. Dr. Oliva-Hemker also served as vice-chair for faculty development, diversity and promotion in the Department of Pediatrics, during which time she completely revised the promotions process leading to successful promotion of all faculty nominated for promotion during her tenure. Dr. Oliva-Hemker has been a highly recognized leader at Hopkins throughout all stages of her career--beginning with her election as President of the Hopkins Medical Student Society to election as Chair of the Medical School Council (currently Faculty Senate) to being elected the first woman to the Clinical Practice Association Board of Governors. Outside of Hopkins, Dr. Oliva-Hemker has co-authored more than 100 articles and has given more than 100 invited talks and has served in leadership roles in multiple professional societies, organizations and editorial boards.
Jeffrey Olson, Bus 2001
Jeff Olson currently serves as chairman and CEO of Urban Edge Properties, a $4 Billion publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Jeff joined Urban Edge Properties as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer when the company spun from Vornado Realty Trust in 2015. Jeff served as Chief Executive Officer of Equity One, Inc. from 2006 to 2014. He was President of the Eastern and Western Regions of Kimco Realty Corporation from 2002 to 2006. Jeff has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Maryland, a Master of Science in Real Estate from The Johns Hopkins University, and was previously a Certified Public Accountant. Jeff is a board member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and is chairman of the Real Estate & Infrastructure Advisory Board at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Jeff credits his education in real estate at Johns Hopkins with enabling him to pivot his career from accounting into real estate development. He commits significant philanthropy, both in time, energy and financial support, back to Carey Business School to support students and the academic programs. Jeff has leveraged many of his professional contacts in the real estate industry to support Johns Hopkins, including both alumni and unaffiliated leaders in the industry. He is bullish about his industry, generous in his support of Carey Business School, and committed to helping students and graduates find opportunities.
Percy Pierre, Engr 1967
Percy A. Pierre is a pioneer in the electrical engineering field, an esteemed member of the National Academy of Engineering, and is recognized as the first African American to earn a doctorate in electrical engineering. Currently, he serves as the adjunct professor and Glenn L. Martin Endowed Professor at the University of Maryland, A. James Clark School of Engineering. Prior, he served as the Vice President Emeritus and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan State University. Since 1998, he has personally mentored 45 engineering doctoral graduates, including 36underrepresented minority doctoral graduates. Dr. Pierre’s impressive career began in 1969 with a series of administrative posts in government and higher education. He was selected and served as a White House Fellow in the Office of the President as deputy to the Assistant to the President for Urban Affairs from 1969-70; as Dean of the College of Engineering at Howard University in Washington, DC where he introduced master’s degree programs in urban systems engineering and computer science and doctoral programs in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering; Dr. Pierre was a principal architect of the national minority engineering effort. He co-chaired the 1973 National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Symposium, which officially launched the effort. Dr. Pierre’s service in military R&D administration includes service as Acting Secretary of the Army in 1981, as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research, Development, and Acquisition, and as a researcher at the RAND Corporation. Subsequently, he served on the Board of Trustees of the Aerospace Corporation, which performed systems engineering studies of space systems for the US Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Center for Naval Analysis which does systems studies for naval operations. He served as a program officer of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and was instrumental in organizing and funding the creation of several organizations in support of minorities in engineering. Dr. Pierre was elected to National Academy of Engineering membership in 2009 for his service as assistant secretary of the Army, contributions to engineering education, and leadership in creating the national minority engineering effort. In the fall 2020, Pierre was named chair of the Racial Justice and Equity Committee of the National Academy of Engineering. In a parallel effort, he served as the program officer at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for minority engineering. He helped organize and provided initial funding for minority engineering organizations, including NACME, GEM, MESA, DAPCEP, and SECME. From 1973 to 2007, the number of B.S. degrees in engineering earned by minorities increased six and a half fold. Since 1973, there has been a ten-fold increase in the number of minorities earning master’s degrees and doctoral degrees in engineering.
The minority engineering effort is arguably the most successful college level minority education program in the last 40 years. Dr. Pierre has served on the governing boards of 12 non-profit educational and/or research and development organizations. He has served on 10 national scientific and technical advisory boards for private organizations and government agencies
Allison Reardon, Bus 2007
Allison Reardon has an exemplary career delivering complex infrastructure and security projects throughout the Public Sector community. She currently is Chief Operating Officer and Partner at Cyber Capital Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm and a member of the DoD Trusted Capital marketplace. In her role, Allison helps grow cyber security businesses and commercializes innovative cyber technology from private industry, academia, and the federal government to help secure national security and critical infrastructure markets. Prior to joining Cyber Capital Partners, Allison was Assistant Vice President for AT&T supporting defense customers worldwide delivering solutions to modernize networks and provide advanced cyber capabilities, as well as mobility, IoT, unified communications, and professional services. Earlier in her career, Allison held management, business development, and analyst positions at Exelis, Lockheed Martin, URS, and The World Bank where she helped customers with technology solutions. Along with her impressive professional record, Allison is a true champion of the Carey Business School. She is a member of the Carey Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board where she leads the Nominating Committee and serves on the Executive Committee.
William Stromberg, Engr 1982
William “Bill” Stromberg recently retired as the president and CEO of T. Rowe Price, and currently serves as non-executive chair of its board. He joined the company in 1987 as an equity investment analyst and went on to serve in a variety of roles within the organization, including portfolio manager of the Dividend Growth Fund (1992 to 2000) and the Capital Opportunity Fund (2000 to 2007). His career pivoted towards leadership beginning in 1996 when he became director of Equity Research, developing the firm’s equity analysts for 10 years. Then from 2006 to 2015, he led U.S. Equity and eventually all of Global Equity until becoming CEO (and board member) in January 2016. Under his leadership, T. Rowe Price accelerated its pace of development in its investment, distribution, technology, and product areas, which helped the company perform well for its clients, grow its business, and remain rock-solid financially. He guided the investment firm during a period of intensifying competition but despite the industry backdrop, T. Rowe performed well, and in 2021, broke into the Fortune 500, ranked at 447, the first Baltimore-based company to join the list since 2012. After 35 years at T. Rowe Price, Mr. Stromberg retired from his role as CEO on December 31, 2021. Prior to T. Rowe Price, he worked for Westinghouse Defense as a systems engineer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematical Sciences from the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. On a civic level, Bill has served on a variety of boards and committees within the Baltimore Community throughout his career. In 2018, he was awarded the Henry A. Rosenberg, Sr. Distinguished Citizen award from the Boy Scouts of America, given annually to an extraordinary community leader for his contributions in business and the community. He has served on the boards (often holding leadership roles) with the Towson YMCA, Associated Catholic Charities, Loyola Blakefield, the Greater Baltimore Committee, and the Greater Washington Partnership. He and his wife, Lisa, have been philanthropic leaders as well, co-chairing several capital campaigns for these organizations. Bill currently serves on the Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees and is the chair of the WSE Dean’s Advisory Board. Bill has also been a strong supporter of Hopkins Athletics programs, having been one of the Blue Jays’ most decorated athletes of all time, setting long-standing records in both baseball and football. Bill is a charter member of the JHU Athletic Hall of Fame and was also inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame in 2004. He was a founding Vice President of Blue Jays Unlimited and went on to serve two terms as president. Bill is honored to have played a key role in several athletic campaigns including most recently for the new baseball stadium and the coaching endowment honoring legendary football coach Jim Margraff.
Jami Valentine Miller, A&S 2007
Dr. Valentine Miller graduated from the Krieger School with a PhD in physics after successfully defending her dissertation, Spin Polarization Measurements of Rare Earth Thin Films, and was the first Black woman to earn a PhD in physics at Johns Hopkins. While at Hopkins, she started the website African American Women in Physics (AAWiP.com), a site that honors women who have paved the way to inspire future physicists, and connects allies interested in promoting diversity in physics and other STEM fields. After graduating, Dr. Valentine Miller pursued a career as a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, working on applications for semiconductor and spintronic memory devices, including those in Samsung and Apple products. In 2012, she was appointed to the level of primary examiner. Dr. Valentine Miller has devoted much of her career to efforts to improve diversity in physics. In addition to founding and continuing to oversee the AAWiP website, she has worked with the National Society of Black Physicists to increase awareness of underrepresented groups in the physics arena. She continues to work as a motivational speaker focused on non-academic careers in physics, perseverance in STEM, and intellectual property. Recent speaking engagements include the Scholars Spring Preview at Florida A&M University, and the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics at The College of New Jersey. She also serves as the national chair for diversity for American Mensa, and has been a featured physicist in Cool Careers in Physics published by Sally Ride Science.
D Watkins, Ed 2011
D Watkins is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America and The Cook Up: A Crack Rock Memoir. He has said that one of the biggest honors of his career so far was to have his most recent book, We Speak for Ourselves: A Word from Forgotten Black America, named the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s 2020 One Book Baltimore, because it meant the book would be provided to all seventh and eighth graders in the city’s public schools. Being able to “talk” to so many students, many of them going to schools he went to, about the same issues he faced, made him feel that his work could really make a difference. D grew up in East Baltimore, and instead of leaving the city after finishing his education, he moved back to serve as a positive model for the children who currently live in his old neighborhood. His work has been published in the New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the BMe Genius Grant and being named one of the Ford Fund’s Men of Courage. He is editor at large for Salon and a lecturer at the University of Baltimore, where he founded the BMORE Writers Project. A graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Education, he also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Baltimore.