Jedidah Isler
Astrophysicist
Jedidah Isler studies blazars — supermassive hyperactive black holes that emit powerful jet streams. They are the universe’s most efficient particle accelerators, transferring energy throughout galaxies. In 2014, she became the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D in Astrophysics from Yale.
Nina Tandon
Biomedical Engineer
Nina Tandon, CEO and co-founder of EpiBone, is revolutionizing medicine. Her company is the first in the world to use a patient’s stem cells to grow human bone that can then be used to repair bone defects like bone loss. Ideally, these bones can be grown to the exact shape and size needed and are easily implanted into the body because they are made from the patient’s own cells.
France Córdova
Astrophysicist
France A. Córdova became the youngest person and first female chief scientist at NASA. Before earning her PhD in physics from CIT in 1978, Córdova had a deep understanding of her Mexican culture and heritage. As an English major at Stanford, she studied the Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca. Her most important contributions to science involve x-rays and gamma rays. She was confirmed by the Senate in 2014 to lead the National Science Foundation.
Shirley Jackson
Physicist
Dr. Shirley Jackson was the first African American woman to graduate with a doctorate in particle physics, she went on to work for Bell Telephones, and helped to invent a whole host of developments that revolutionized the way we communicate, from touch-tone dialing to call-waiting. One contribution, however, looms bigger than most: the invention of fiber-optic cables that link the world's communication systems.
Patricia Bath
Ophthalmologist
Dr. Bath was the first African-American woman in history to receive a patent for a medical invention, in 1988 — and the invention itself was no slouch, either. Bath is an ophthalmologist who specializes in cataract treatment, and her invention, the Laserphaco Probe, was a revolutionary method of treating them using lasers. It made eye surgery more accurate and has probably saved the sight of many, many people.
Kimberly Bryant
Electrical Engineer
Kimberly Bryant is an African American electrical engineer who worked in the biotechnology field at Genentech, Novartis Vaccines, Diagnostics, and Merck. In 2011, Bryant founded Black Girls Code, a training course that teaches basic programming concepts to black girls who are underrepresented in technology careers.
Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad
Inventor
Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad is 19 years old, and the Egyptian's life-changing invention first occurred to her when she was 16. It's a fantastic idea, too. Faiad developed a method to transform plastic into biofuel, for countries which produce a lot of plastic waste. Her invention is low-cost and eco-friendly, but it might take a while to make its way onto the market.
Flossie Wong-Staal
Virologist/Molecular Biologist
Dr. Flossie Wong-Staal is a specialist in virology, particularly HIV/AIDS (she and her colleagues discovered it in 1983), and has invented many protocols and tests surrounding the virus, including an invention that led to the world's first HIV test. She also developed an enzyme-based "molecular knife" that can cut up genetic information in AIDS patients.
Janet Iwasa
Molecular Animator
Janet Iwasa’s colorful, action-packed 3D animations illustrate how molecules look, move and interact — allowing scientists to visualize their hypotheses and conveying complex scientific information to general audiences. Iwasa uses high-end animation software to create her works, but to help scientists access visualization technology, she’s also created Molecular Flipbook, a free, open source 3D animation software tool that lets researchers intuitively and quickly model molecular hypotheses.
Lydia Villa-Komaroff
Molecular/Cell Biologist
“Traditionally, Hispanic women are not socialized to believe they can earn a living, much less be a scientist,” Villa-Komaroff said in a profile by the American Association of University Women. She’s most known for her post-doc, which advanced scientific understanding of insulin production. In 1976, she became the third Chicana in history to earn a doctorate in science, at MIT no less. A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, she is now Chief Scientific Officer at Cytonome, a cell tech company based in Boston.
Patrícia Medici
Conservation Biologist
Brazilian conservationist Patricia Medici has devoted her life to preserving the life and habitat of the South American lowland tapir, the largest terrestrial mammal of South America. Though not well known, tapirs are important to their ecosystems as an umbrella species: protecting tapirs also protects iconic species like peccaries, jaguars and pumas. Sadly, tapirs are threatened by deforestation, hunting and roads, and are especially vulnerable due to their long gestation periods.
Antonia Novello
Physician
Born in Puerto Rico, Antonia C. Novello studied medicine and became a deputy director with the National Institutes of Health. In 1990, she was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as the first female and Hispanic/Latina U.S. surgeon general. She focused on AIDS prevention, underage smoking and women’s health, among other items. She later worked for UNICEF and New York state.
Bobak Ferdowsi
Systems Engineer
Bobak Ferdowsi is an American systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He served on the Cassini–Huygens and Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity missions. Ferdowsi gained brief media fame in August 2012, when he wore an unusual mohawk hairstyle during the Curiosity landing. It unexpectedly became an iconic image of the event with coverage in the news and social media, U.S. President Obama even commented on the popularity of "Mohawk Guy".
José Hernández
Engineer/Astronaut
José Moreno Hernández is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. Hernández was assigned to the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-128. He also served as chief of the Materials and Processes branch of Johnson Space Center. Hernández previously developed equipment for full-field digital mammography, which helps in early detection of breast cancer, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Hernández left NASA in 2011.
Lonnie Johnson
Engineer/Inventor
Lonnie G. Johnson earned his master's degree in nuclear engineering from Tuskegee University, and went on to work for the U.S. Air Force and the NASA space program. After tinkering with the invention of a high-powered water gun, Johnson's Super Soaker became a top-selling item by the early 1990s. He has since been developing the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter (JTEC), an engine that converts heat directly into electricity.
Tyrone Hayes
Biologist
Tyrone B. Hayes is known for his research findings concluding that the herbicide atrazine is an endocrine disruptor that demasculinizes and feminizes male frogs. He has presented hundreds of papers, talks, and seminars on his conclusions that environmental chemical contaminants have played a role in global amphibian declines and in the health disparities that occur in minority and low income populations.
Raymond Wang
Inventor
Raymond Wang won the top prize in the 2015 Intel Science and Engineering Fair for his invention that circulates fresh air on planes and reduces transmission of germs between passengers. Having a strong passion for sustainability, Raymond founded Sustainable Youth Canada, a youth-led non-profit organization dedicated to empowering young people to be leaders in tackling issues with environmental and energy sustainability.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Astrophysicist
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator. Since 1996, he has been the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City.
Adriana Ocampo
Planetary geologist
Adriana Ocampo is a Colombian planetary geologist and the Science Program Manager at NASA Headquarters. Her research contributed to the understanding of the Chicxulub impact crater. She has led six research expeditions to the Chicxulub impact site. Ocampo and her colleagues also discovered the Aorounga Crater Chain in Chad in 1996.
Wanda Diaz-Merced
Astronomer
Merced is a scientist who studies the light emitted by gamma-ray bursts. She lost her sight in her early twenties, but still went on to pursue scientific research. As a doctoral student, she developed a novel technique to transform supernovas and solar flares into sound – so she can literally hear the stars. Thanks to her methods, astrophysicists have new ways to learn about the stars. She now also serves as an advocate for greater inclusivity in the scientific community.
Robert Murphy
Engineer
Bobby Murphy is co-founder and
chief technology officer of
Snapchat, Inc. His mother
immigrated from the Philippines to
the US, and both of his parents
had government jobs. Murphy
worked 18-hour days to develop a
working prototype of the app, and
he remains the author of much of
Snapchat's code to this day.
Murphy's base salary of $250,000
in 2016 was half of his partner.
Now that Snap has gone public,
each cofounder's stake in the
company is worth at least $5.4
billion apiece.
Mario Molina
Chemist
Mario Molina is a Mexican chemist and one of the most prominent precursors to the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole. In 2004 he became professor at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He was a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth's ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases (or CFCs), becoming the first Mexican-born citizen to ever receive a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Simon Singh
Science Journalist
Simon Singh completed a PhD degree in particle physics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and at CERN, Geneva. Then because he wasn’t quite accomplished enough and wanted to show he could conquer yet another field, he started producing award-winning science documentaries and writing award-winning science books. He is one of our greatest science communicators. In 2003, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to science, technology and engineering in education and science communication.
Cynthia Erenas
Roboticist
Cynthia Erenas emigrated from Mexico to Los Angeles when she was 8 years old. Since then, she has learned to speak English, become a genius roboticist, given a TED talk and become one of only ten winners (out of 32,000 entrants) in Dean Kamen’s FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition. And she’s the first person in her family to graduate from high school.
Bisi Ezerioha
engineer
Bisi Ezerioha is the CEO and chief engineer of his company Bisimoto Engineering. A chemical engineer by training, he was a pharmaceutical researcher for years before he decided to bring his mad engineering skills to the pursuit of creating ridiculously fast cars. His automotive creations have appeared in numerous films and video games.
Mae Jemison
Astronaut/Dancer
Mae Jemison is a physician, engineer, educator, entrepreneur, and the first woman of color in the world to go into space – she was a NASA astronaut for six years. Currently, Mae devotes much of her attention to the 100 Year Starship, which she says is “pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow to create a better world today.” In her spare moments, Mae is a lifelong and accomplished dancer.
Barrington Irving
Pilot
In 2007, Barrington Irving became the first African American and the youngest person at that time to pilot a plane around the world solo. When he eventually landed back at the Miami airport where he started, Barrington began to use his achievement as a way to reach young people. His educational foundation, Experience Aviation, works to “lift today’s youth to a higher plane.”
Myron Rolle
Medical Student
Myron Rolle is a first-year medical student at the Florida State University College of Medicine. He was also a Rhodes Scholar and got his Master’s in Medical Anthropology at Oxford. In his off hours, Myron somehow managed to become a star football player at Florida State and then a professional player in the NFL.
Preetha Ram
Chemist
Preetha Ram is a Professor of Chemistry and the Associate Dean of Science Education at Emory University. She’s also the founder of Open Study, an online learning center that facilitates peer-to-peer learning via social networking. Preetha also sometimes teaches science to Buddhist monks as well… at the request of the Dalai Lama.
Tanzeem Choudhury
Digital Behaviorist
Tanzeem Choudhury is Associate Professor of Information Science at Cornell University where she leads the People-Aware Computing Lab. She and her team develop cell-phone apps that can track a person’s emotional well-being. Tanzeem herself was a digital late bloomer, only touching a computer for the first time in a college computer programming class.
Vanessa Galvez
Civil Engineer
Vanessa Galvez is a civil engineer using her skill and insight to benefit her community. In 2016, the Queens, New York native and resident engineer for the New York City Department of Design and Construction oversaw the institution of 164 biowales in Maspeth, Queens. Bioswales are beautiful natural areas of engineered soil and water-absorbent plants located on sidewalks near stormwater catch basins. The Salvadoran civil engineer attended NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, graduating in 2012, after watching and being inspired by a documentary about the Army Corps. of Engineers’ response to levee failure in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Patricia Valoy
Civil Engineer
Patricia Valoy is an engineer and project manager, feminist writer, and STEM advocate based out of New York City.
She holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Columbia University where she focused on construction management and structural engineering. With her professional background in construction and engineering she writes and speaks on a variety of issues pertaining to women in STEM and other male-dominated fields, particularly as it relates to women of color and underrepresented minorities.
Amber Yang
Student
Amber Yang wants to solve an ever-growing problem - space junk. For the past 3 years, she’s worked to improve the way space junk is tracked so that spacecraft and satellites can avoid it by creating an artificial neural network that can recognize patterns in how space junk moves and changes orbit. Her program can predict the future position of space junk with 98% accuracy - which is far more accurate than the models developed at NASA. For her work, she won the 2017 Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award. She’s commercializing her research with her startup, Seer, while attending Stanford University.