2021 Black History Month Contest Winners

Congratulations to Our Membership Recipients: 

Independence Academy Co-Principal, Bryan Kariuki (left)
Vanderbilt Law School Student, Ramon J. Ryan (middle)
Fisk University Associate Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Robert C. Wingfield Jr. (right)

In celebration of Black History Month, we ran a membership contest to recognize exceptional STEM-related leaders in the black community and we're happy to announce the awardees. 

Bryan Kariuki is Co-Principal at Independence Academy, an Intrepid College Prep School, which is a public charter school that serves to give students rigorous, college-preparatory education to equip them for future, professional opportunities. In the words of his nominator, "Bryan is an outstanding young leader and teacher of color. He is an amazingly successful math / STEM teacher largely serving students of color. I cannot imagine a stronger or more-qualified nominee than Bryan." 

Ramon J. Ryan is in his final year of law school at Vanderbilt University where he was inspired by a visiting attorney from NASA who made him realize that he could marry his passion for space and science with the law. As such, he founded Vanderbilt Law's first Space Law Society. Last year, Ryan published an article in the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law (JETLaw) that garnered national attention and was referenced in Scientific American, Futurism, and Business Insider y prompted oversight action in the U.S. Senate. 

Dr. Robert Wingfield Jr. is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Fisk University where he has served since 1985. Dr. Wingfield has turned his passion for science, his desire for healthy communities, and his quest for environmental justice into a lifelong pursuit of initiatives that educate persons of all ages about environmental sustainability. Each year, Dr. Wingfield offers workshops in the Nashville community centered around issues of environmental toxins, emergency preparedness, environmental recycling, use of natural cleaning agents, gardening, and more. He also conducts STEM-based sustainability awareness training for youth through afterschool and summer programs. 

Special thanks to EY for sponsoring this contest and our Black History Month programming.