2024 Winter Meeting Plenary SpeakerK. Renee HortonSunday, January 7, 2024K. Renee Horton is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a lifelong lover of science and NASA. A graduate of Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Math in 2002 and a Ph.D. in Material Science with a concentration in Physics, becoming the first African American to graduate from the University of Alabama in 2011 in this area. K. Renee Horton currently serves as the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstrator Project (EPFD) Airworthiness Deputy at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. She worked for NASA, first as a student from 2009 to 2011, and then started her career as a mechanical test engineer in 2012. In 2016, Renee was elected President of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) as the second woman to hold the office. She has served the physics community abroad as a member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Women in Physics Working Group and currently serves on several advisory boards dedicated to a more diverse inclusion in physics. In 2017, she was elevated to a Fellow in the NSBP, which is the highest honor bestowed upon a member. Renee has been an invited speaker for the first International Women and Girls Day at the United Nations, Essence Power Stage, March for Science – New Orleans, and recently the LSU Engineering Spring Commencement. She has spoken all over the world including South Africa, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, and the beautiful Virgin Islands. She is the author of Dr. H Explores the Universe, Dr. H and her Friends, and Dr. H Explores the ABCs. Video: Black Women in Tech: Dr. K Renee Horton breaks barriers in space |