In 2014, Jedidah Isler became the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Yale University. She is an alumna of Norfolk State University’s Dozoretz National Institute for Mathematics and Applied Sciences and the Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge Program.
Her innovative research has been supported by fellowships from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Ford Foundation. More than 2.5 million viewers have watched her TED talks.
As an assistant professor of astrophysics at Dartmouth College, she studies hyperactive, supermassive black holes. Her scientific research explores the physics of blazars – supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that create particle jets moving at nearly the speed of light.
Dr. Isler's non-profit organization, The STEM en Route to Change (SeRCH) Foundation, Inc., is dedicated to using science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as a pathway for social justice. She has worked with museums, libraries, planetariums, schools, and universities across the country to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders.
Njema Frazier is a theoretical nuclear physicist. She earned a master's and Ph.D. from Michigan State University and a bachelor's degree in physics from Carnegie Mellon University. Currently, she is a staff member in the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
Dr. Frazier has earned many accolades for promoting STEM careers, including the Science Spectrum Trailblazer Award from Career Communications Group for being a champion for the energy department's Minorities in Energy Initiative.
Within NNSA, she serves as acting director of the Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion, which provides experimental capabilities and scientific understanding for weapons-relevant, high-energy-density physics. She has also worked as a visiting professor at the National Defense University, College of International Security Affairs, in Washington, D.C., and a professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science.
Dr. Frazier is a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE); chair of the Algebra by 7th Grade (Ab7G) Initiative for grades 3 through 7; and the founder and chief executive officer of diversity science, LLC, an expert-based network of scientists and engineers dedicated to broadening participation in STEM.
