Speakers

Janelle is a change agent in human resources and definitive leader in diversity and inclusion. Her 25 years of combined experience spans the private, federal and local government sectors bringing innovative approaches to leading organizational and cultural change.

She designed, developed and led the DEIA strategy in response to Executive Order 14035, a federal government-wide initiative to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA), and is regarded by the Department of Labor (DOL) as a leading voice, having served as the DEIA officer for the DOL Employment and Training Administration (ETA). She played a key role in launching the DOL Divine 9 Affinity Group advocating and creating opportunities for the advancement of historically underserved communities with an emphasis on HBCUs to build a pipeline of talent from HBCUs to DOL. In response to Executive Order 13985/14091, she served on DOL Equity Committees to affirmatively advance equity, civil rights, racial justice and equal opportunity in the way the agency serves the American people.

Her experience also includes the Department of Transportation, where she served 12 years in the Office of the Secretary leading the human capital strategy, strategic workforce planning, diversity and inclusion, and organizational effectiveness strategies.

He has chaired the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland since 2016, and before that served as co-Director of the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), a collaborative center formed by UMD, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Laboratory for Physical Sciences. Steve Rolston received his B.S. from Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In 2016-17, Rolston served as Chair of the American Physical Society’s Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics.

Rolston is a Fellow of UMD’s Quantum Technology Center, the JQI, the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the recipient of the Arthur S. Flemming Award, the Sigma Xi Young Scientist Award, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Silver Medal, and UMD’s Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award.

He is known for his work on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory in addition to his work in Public Policy.

Dr. Rockward has a unique combination of leadership from academic, professional, and community experiences. Prior to his transition to Morgan State, he served 7 years as the Chair of the Department of Physics & Dual Degree Engineering Program (Physics & DDEP) and 20 years as the Research Director of the Materials and Optics Research & Engineering (MORE) Laboratory at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia.  Among his professional leadership experiences, he is the immediate Past President of both the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) and the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society (SPS).  Also, he has served a combination of 29 years as Pastor of the Divine Unity Missionary Baptist Church, East Point, Georgia; Associate Minister of Antioch Baptist Church North, Atlanta, Georgia; and Associate Minister of New Shiloh Baptist Church, Baltimore, Maryland.

As Chair of Physics & DDEP at Morehouse College, his vision and leadership resulted in the department being the US #1 producer for underrepresented minorities with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics according to the American Institute of Physics in conjunction to boasting the Nation’s most productive Dual Degree Engineering Program. He is a strong proponent of STEM mentorship using methodologies of faculty-to-student, peer-to-peer, professional shadowing, life-skills coaching, and research apprenticeship. His current research interests include micro/nano optics lithography, extreme ultraviolet interferometry, metamaterials, terahertz imaging, nanostructure characterization, and crossed phase optics.

Professor Phillips received his B.S. in 1970 from Juniata College and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow and Honorary Member of the Optical Society of America and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Pollard-Larkin is a trailblazer. She is the first Black woman faculty member in MD Anderson’s Radiation Physics department. She has clinical, administrative and educational responsibilities. She also conducts clinical research, mentors faculty, and teaches medical physics to residents and graduate students. In her clinical faculty leadership role, she manages the treatment and quality assurance for the center’s lung radiotherapy patients. Her primary research interests include Flash ultra-high dose radiotherapy, pacemaker radiotherapy dose measurements and improving the efficacy of motion management in thoracic treatments and radiobiology. Notably, beyond her role at MD Anderson Cancer center treating patients with radiotherapy, Julianne is also a Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and is their Chair over their Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee.

She received her B.S. in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fl and then earned her PhD in Biomedical Physics at UCLA. After receiving her PhD at UCLA, Julianne was accepted into the medical physics residency program at MD Anderson in Houston, Tx. Following her residency, Julianne was hired by MD Anderson as faculty.

A defining characteristic about Julianne is that she is a firm believer in outreach and increasing the number of women and underrepresented populations in science. Ensuring that more underrepresented students and women follow in her footsteps is Julianne’s passion. To that end, she is one of the featured physicists in the American Institute of Physics’ “We Are Scientists” media campaign.