One in a hundred: a study of black American science doctorates [1](1980)
Willie Pearson Jr. is an American sociologist, who has studied and encouraged the participation of African-Americans and other minorities, as well as women, in science. He has published several books on the experience of African-American scientists with PhDs, including major studies on chemists and engineers. Pearson has had a leading role in many activities and policy development roles in relation to the participation of minorities and women in science, including chairing the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE), a congressionally mandated committee at the National Science Foundation (NSF). He served on the U.S. president's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Early life and education
Willie Pearson was born in Rusk, Texas on 29 June 1945.[2] After his parents divorced, he and his older sister, Vassie King, were raised by their mother.[2] He attended Emmett J. Scott High School in Tyler, Texas, going on to study at the small, historically black, liberal arts college, Wiley College and graduating with a B.A. in sociology in 1968.[2] In 1971, Pearson earned his master's degree in sociology from Atlanta University.[3]
In 2001, he was appointed to professor and chair of the Department of History and Sociology at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.[5] Soon after, Pearson chaired the U.S. Congress mandated the establishment of the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE),[6] a congressionally mandated committee in the National Science Foundation (NSF) which reports biennially to the U.S. Congress.[7]
Donald O. Schoonmaker Faculty Award for Community Service (2000) for contributions to the Wake Forest University campus community.[11]
Sigma Xi (Scientific Research Honor Society) Distinguished Lecturer (2001-2002).[12]
National Associate of the National Academies of Sciences (2001).[13][2]
Books
Black Scientists, White Society, and Colorless Science: a Study of Universalism in American Science (1985) [14]
Blacks, Science, and American Education (1989) (with H. Kenneth Bechtel) [15]
Who Will Do Science? Educating the Next Generation (1994) [16]
Beyond Small Numbers: Voices of African American PhD Chemists (2005) [17]
Changing the Face of Engineering: The African American Experience (2015) (Edited with John Brooks Slaughter and Yu Tao) [18]
Advancing Women in Science: An International Perspective (2015) (Edited with Lisa Frehill and Connie McNeely) [19]
References
^ abPearson, Willie (1980). One in a hundred: a study of black American science doctorates. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. OCLC213745998.
^Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (2003). 2002 Biennial Report to Congress(PDF). Washington DC: National Science Foundation. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
^"National Associates". www.nationalacademies.org. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
^Pearson, Willie Jr (1985). Black scientists, white society, and colorless science : a study of universalism in American science. Millwood NY: Associated Faculty Press. ISBN0804693463.
^Pearson, Willie Jr; Fechter, Alan (1994). Who will do science? Educating the next generation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN0801848571.
^Pearson, Willie Jr (2005). Beyond small numbers: voices of African American PhD chemists. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. ISBN0762305622.
^Slaughter, John Brooks; Tao, Yu; Pearson, Willie Jr (2015). Changing the face of engineering : the African American experience. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN978-1421418155.
^Pearson, Willie Jr; Frehill, Lisa M.; McNeely, Connie L. (2015). Advancing women in science: an international perspective. Springer. ISBN978-3319086293.