Willie Hobbs Moore Scholarship
Harry L. Morrison Scholarship
Arthur BC Walker Scholarship
The National Society of Black Physicists is pleased to offer scholarships commemorating Drs. Willie Hobbs Moore, Harry L. Morrison and Arthur BC Walker.
Dr. Moore was the first African American female to earn the Ph.D. degree in physics. After completing her degree at the University of Michigan and working there for several years as a research scientist, she spent a long and successful career at Ford Motor Company.
Dr. Morrison was a legendary figure in the field of mathematical statistical physics, and an inspirational mentor to generations of African American physicists. He was on the physics faculty at UC Berkeley for nearly 30 years, and was an assistant dean until his death in 2002. He was strong student advocate, especially science and engineering students. In the early 70's he was amongst the early UC Berkeley faculty supporters of a degree-granting Black Studies Programs.
Dr. Walker was the most brilliant x-ray spectroscopist that ever lived. He applied his science to solar imaging, and was the first to report x-ray images of the Sun. He built many x-ray telescopes for space flight missions. He was also a tireless activist for diversity of the student body and faculty at Stanford University, where he was a professor for nearly 30 years.
Declared physics majors in their junior or senior year are eligible to receive this scholarship. Applicants should be either sophomores or juniors. We anticipate making three $1,000 awards. The scholarship is NOT renewable.
Applications will become available on September 1, 2013 and wil be due by December 1, 2013.
Harvey Washington Banks Scholarship in Astronomy
Walter Samuel McAfee Scholarship in Space Physics
Ronald E. McNair Scholarship in Space and Optical Physics
Michael P. Anderson Scholarship in Space Science
The National Society of Black Physicists offers these scholarships in commemoration of these pioneering astronomers, astrophysicists and space scientists.
Dr. Harvey Washington Banks was the first African American to receive the Ph.D. degree specifically in astronomy. He earned his degree at George Washington University in 1961. Dr. Banks taught physics and astronomy at Delaware State College and Howard University. His research interests included determination of orbits, celestial mechanics, high dispersion spectroscopy, and the geodetic determinations from the observations of solar eclipse and satellites.
Dr. Walter McAfee was a graduate of Wiley College in Texas, the Ohio State University, and ultimately earned the Ph.D. degree in physics from Cornell University under Professor Hans Bethe. He spent most of his professional career at the US Army Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) in Fort Monmouth, NJ.
Dr. McAfee was a mathematical physicist who applied his skills to problems of astrophysics and radio-wave propagation. He was part of the team that was the first to send a radio signal to the moon, have it bounced back and detected back on Earth. His calculations were crucial in determining the velocity of a position on the moon relative to a position on the Earth, and for determining the electromagnetic cross-section of the moon. In 1997 the US Army dedicated the McAfee Center at Ft. Monmouth in recognition of Dr. McAfee's significant contributions to space contributions to space communications, radar, and general understanding of electromagnetic propagation.
Dr. Ronald McNair and LTCOL Michael P. Anderson were NASA astronauts who perished in separate space shuttle accidents. Dr. McNair was lost in the Challenger accident of 1986 and Colonel Anderson was aboard the Columbia in February 2003. Both were accomplished physicists, friends and supporters of the National Society of Black Physicists, strong family men, and inspirational national treasures. These scholarships are offered in their memory and in the hopes of inspiring the next generation of space explorers.
Each of these scholarships is a one-time $1,000 award. The scholarship is NOT renewable.
Applications will become available on September 1, 2013 and wil be due by December 1, 2013.
Elmer S. Imes Scholarship in Physics
Elmer Imes earned a Ph.D. degree in physics from the University of Michigan in 1918, becoming the second African American to earn a Ph.D. in physics. He served as Professor of Physics and Head of the Physics Department at Fisk University, from 1930 until his death in 1941. In 1918 Imes and Harrison Randall, a preeminent physics researcher at the University of Michigan published a seminal work that opened an entirely new field of research: the study of molecular structure through the use of infra-red spectroscopy. Their work revealed for the first time the detailed spectra of simple-molecule gases, leading to important verification of the emerging quantum theory and providing, for the first time, an accurate measurement of the distances between atoms in a molecule. Imes' work formed a turning point in the scientific thinking, making it clear that quantum theory was not just a novelty, useful in limited fields of physics, but of widespread and general application.
After completing his degree at Michigan, Imes returned to Fisk University where he built a physics program, in fact the first degree granting program in physics at an HBCU. Throughout his years at Fisk, he and many of his students went to Ann Arbor for research collaborations in the vibrational spectroscopy group there. One of those students, James Lawson, later earned a Ph.D. degree in physics at Michigan. Lawson went on to develop the Fisk Infrared Research Laboratory, which is still active today. Willie Hobbs Moore, the first African American female to earn a Ph.D. in physics, also received her degree at Michigan in the vibrational spectroscopy group.
This scholarship is made possible from the generous gift of Dr. Walter and Mrs Shirley Massey.
Applications will become available on September 1, 2013 and wil be due by December 1, 2013.
Robert A. Ellis Scholarship in Physics
Bob Ellis earned his doctorate at the University of Iowa. Upon obtaining his Ph.D., he was a professor at Tennessee A&I (now Tennessee State University) where he had taught before leaving for Iowa to earn his doctorate. In 1956 he began working with a group in Princeton working on Project Matterhorn, which was studying magnetic confinement and heating of plasmas in stellarators for controlled fusion. He quickly became a key member of the team. From 1956 until his death in 1999, Robert Ellis was head of experimental projects at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He was internationally recognized as a pioneer in modern experimental plasma physics.
This scholarship is supported the friends and colleagues of Dr. Ellis at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
Applications will become available on September 1, 2013 and wil be due by December 1, 2013.
Charles Stevenson Brown completed his undergraduate studies at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia with a major in Physics and minors in Mathematics and Philosophy. He earned an M.S. in Nuclear Physics and Computer Programming at Emory University. In 1981 he received a Ph.D. in Physics (Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics and Applied Mathematics) from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Emory from 1981-1982.From 1982-2001, Dr. Brown was a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies in Norcross, Georgia. During that time period he also served as an AT&T Bell Laboratories Visiting Scholar in the Department of Physics at ClarkAtlantaUniversity. In 1993, he was awarded the Black Engineer of the Year Pioneer Award, both for his training of young African-American and African scientists and engineers and for his contributions in science and technology. From 2001-2002, he held the position of Chief Scientist of Luxcore Networks, then located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 2002-July 2004 he was an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Morehouse College, and from August of 2004 until just before his death he was Interim Chair of the Department of Physics at Morehouse.
The development of science and technology in Africa was a central component of Dr. Brown’s career and life. In 1988, Abdus Salam (Nobel Laureate and Director of the International Center for Theoretical Physics), appointed Charles to the Founding Council of the Edward Bouchet Abdus Salam Institute (EBASI). Later he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship that enabled him to work with faculty and students in the Department of Physics at University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Cape Coast, Ghana. He subsequently returned to UCC as an ICTP Visiting Scholar, and helped develop a Ph.D. program in Physics at that university. In addition to his extensive work in Africa, he served as the Chair of EBASI for many years.
This commemorative scholarship is made possible by gifts from Dr. Brown’s family and his many friends and colleagues.
Graduate students and undergraduate students with a declared major in physics are eligible for this scholarship. This scholarship is not renewable.
Applications will become available on September 1, 2013 and wil be due by December 1, 2013.
APS Scholarship for Minority Undergraduate Physics Majors
Through the generosity of corporate and individual donors, the APS is able to offer the APS Scholarship for Minority Undergraduate Physics Majors (formerly known as the Corporate-Sponsored Scholarship for Minority Undergraduate Students Who Major in Physics). This program, which began in 1980, has graduated students who have received their Ph.D.s in physics and are now working as physics faculty members in universities, as well as research scientists at corporations and national labs. Some past scholars have also become high school physics teachers.
Each year, the APS Committee on Minorities in Physics (COM) acts as the selection committee for this scholarship which attracts many excellent applicants. The award consists of $2000 per year for new minority scholars, and $3000 per year for renewal students to be used for tuition, room & board, and educational materials. In addition, each physics department that hosts one or more APS minority undergraduate scholars and assigns a mentor for their student/s will receive a $500 award for programs to encourage minority students.
Any African-American, Hispanic American, or Native American U.S. citizen or permanent resident who is majoring or planning to major in physics, and who is a high school senior, college freshman, or sophomore is eligible to apply for the scholarship
Navigate to APS Scholarship for Minority Undergraduate Physics Majors for more information and application forms.
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