The History of the Universe
Class Description
I earned my Ph.D. in astrophysics from Indiana University Bloomington, in December 1991, becoming the USA’s first Black female theoretical astrophysicist. But, more important, I am the first person to successfully work out the Penrose mechanism to extract energy from the ergosphere of a rotating black hole using Einstein’s Theory of General and Special Relativity (R. K. Williams 1995, Physical Review D, 51, No. 10, 5387-5427; see also articles below). This work shows that Kerr (rotating) black holes are capable of providing the energy of quasars and other active galactic nuclei.
I am a Research Assistant Professor of Astrophysics (2008-?) at The University of Toledo (UT). I am a former Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy (2006-2009) at UT and formerly an Associate Professor of Astrophysics and Director of the Center for Women and Science at Bennett College (1998-2001). I was previously (beginning in January 1997) a Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics at North Carolina A & T (NCAT) State University. I am formerly an Assistant Scientist at the University of Florida (1997-2004), collaborating with Dr. Henry Kandrup, my postdoctoral advisor. I was a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Florida (1993-1996).
