Jedidah Isler

Jedidah C. Isler
Ph.D.
Citizenship United States
Alma mater Norfolk State University (B.S.)
Fisk University (M.A.)
Yale University (M.S.,Ph.D.)
Known for Yale University's first African-American woman to earn a PhD in Astrophysics
Awards Kavli Foundation Fellowship (2016), Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (2012), National Science Foundation (2007)
Scientific career
Fields Astrophysics
Institutions Vanderbilt University, Syracuse University
Thesis In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion: Probing the Disk-Jet Connection in Fermi Gamma-Ray Bright Blazars
Website jedidahislerphd.com

Jedidah C. Isler is an American astrophysicist and educator. She has written studies on blazars (supermassive black holes)[1] and examines the jet streams emanating from them.[2]

Early life and education

Isler was raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia[3] and has a sister.[1] When she was 12 years old, she discovered the industry of astronomy and decided to study science professionally.[4]

Isler's father left the family shortly before she left for college, sparking financial turmoil that threatened to cut her studies short.[1] She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's of science in physics at Norfolk State University's Dozoretz National Institute for Mathematics and Applied Sciences (DNIMAS), "a program aimed at cultivating minority scientists who want to complete graduate-level work."[3] From there, she became one of the first three student members of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master's-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, a program designed to increase the number of women and under-represented minorities with advanced STEM degrees.[5] She earned a master's of art degree in physics from Fisk University.

At Yale University, she earned first a master's of science in physics, then a doctorate in astrophysics, becoming the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Yale.[4][6][7] She was often the only African-American in her classes, and endured years of backhanded comments. In an NPR interview, Isler recalled an exchange with her classmates during her first year at Yale. "So there are plates everywhere," she recalls. "And all of a sudden, [a white male student] in my class hands me a pile of his dirty plates...and says, 'Here, now go and do what you're really here to do.'"[5] In 2014, Isler published her doctoral dissertation, In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion: Probing the Disk-Jet Connection in Fermi Gamma-Ray Bright Blazars,[8] which earned the Roger Doxsey Dissertation Prize from the American Astronomical Society.[9]

Isler "completed a two-year Chancellor’s Faculty Fellowship at Syracuse University".[3]

Career

Blazar research

Since July 2015, Isler has served as a Vanderbilt University National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow in Astronomy and Astrophysics. This fellowship is funded for three years, "enabling her to research blazars and better understand the jets they shoot out nearly at the speed of light".[3]

STEM advocacy

In 2015, Isler delivered a speech on intersectionality in STEM industries and education, noting that:

According to Dr. Jamie Alexander's archive of African-American women in physics, only 18 black women in the United States had ever earned a Ph.D. in a physics-related discipline, and that the first black woman to graduate with a Ph.D. in an astronomy-related field did so just one year before my birth."[10]

Television

Isler has appeared in two episodes of the documentary television series How the Universe Works, describing astronomical phenomena and explaining astrophysics theories.[11] She also has appeared in the television series Genius by Stephen Hawking.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mayol, Taylor. "The Astrophysicist at the Cutting Edge of Black Holes". Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  2. ↑ "Jedidah Isler First African-American Woman To Receive A Yale PhD In Astrophysics". Science World Report. 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Cook Jenkins, Elizabeth (2016-05-09). "Rising Star". vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  4. 1 2 "Meet Dr Jedidah Isler: The First Black Woman to Graduate from Yale with a PhD in Astrophysics". blackgirllonghair.com. Black Girl with Long Hair. 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  5. 1 2 "A Graduate Program Works To Diversify The Science World". Code Switch. NPR. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  6. ↑ "Lessons Learned". Vanderbilt Magazine. Vanderbilt University. May 12, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ "About". jedidahislerphd.com. Jedidah Isler. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ Isler, Jedidah C. (1 January 2014). In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion: Probing the Disk-Jet Connection in Fermi Gamma-ray Bright Blazars (Thesis). Yale University. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Rodger Doxsey Travel Prize". AAS.org. American Astronomical Society. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  10. ↑ Isler, Jedidah (2015). "The untapped genius that could change science for the better". TED.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  11. ↑ "How the Universe Works". IMDb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Genius by Stephen Hawking". IMDb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
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