2007-2008 MLK Visiting Professors

Dereje Agonafer, Mechanical Engineering

Tewodros Amdeberhan, Mathematics

Don Byron, Music and Theater Arts

Ana Castillo, Writing and Humanistic Studies/Women's and Gender Studies

William Harris, Urban Studies and Planning

Dale Joachim, Media Arts & Sciences

Ainissa G. Ramirez, Materials Science and Engineering

Dwight Williams, Dual Appointment: Nuclear Science and Engineering; Political Science, Security Studies Program

Dereje Agonafer (2007-2008)
Mechanical Engineering
After earning his PhD from Howard University in 1984, Professor Dereje Agonafer joined IBM where his primary focus was in the development of thermal management for electronic systems. In 1999, Professor Agonafer left IBM and joined the faculty at the University of Texas as Director of electronics, MEMS, and nanoelectronics Systems Packaging Center. Since he joined UTA, he has successfully advised 51 graduate students. He is currently working with 6 PhD and 11 MSc students (http://emnspc.uta.edu). He has published over 120 papers including 8 issued patents. He has also taught over 70 short courses at IBM and numerous others at conferences internationally including a recent opening keynote in Toyama in September 2006 (http://www.uta.edu/engineering/news/) Professor Agonafer is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International (ASME) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He has received numerous awards including The 1996 National Society of Black Engineers Alumni Extension Technologist of the Year award , The 1998 University of Colorado School of Engineering Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award (DEAA) in the category of Research and Invention, The 1998 Howard University Distinguished PhD Alumni Award, The 1998 ASME K-16/EEPD Clock Award for Outstanding Contribution in Computer Aided Thermal Management of Electronic Packages, and the 2002 ASME International Electronic and Photonic Packaging Division Highest Division Award for “Outstanding Contributions to the Area of the Application of the Science and Engineering of Heat Transfer to Electronic and Photonic Packaging.” In March 2005, 2006 and 2007, Professor Agonafer received an award from The University of Texas at Arlington for having “A strong record of external funding and scholarly achievement.” Professor Agonafer’s activities at MIT can be found at http://web.mit.edu/electroniccooling/.

Tewodros Amdeberhan (2007-2008)
Mathematics
Tewodros earned his Ph.D. degree from Temple University, in Mathematics, under the supervision of Doron Zeilberger. He has taught a wide-range of courses to undergraduates and some graduate students. His primary research interest lies in Combinatorics, Number theory and Elliptic differential equations. Tewodros has published in these and related areas of pure and applied mathematics. Samples of his work and other unpublished musings are available on his webpages at http://www-math.mit.edu/~tewodros.

Tewodros is also broadly traveled in the States to give conference presentations and seminars - to name a few: MSRI (at Berkeley), University of Notre Dame, Caltech, University of San Deigo, Georgia Tech., MIT, University of Florida, Tulane, Rutgers, Howard, University of Delaware and Penn State.

Tewodros has held visiting positions at Princeton, Tulane University, and he is a Permanent member of the DIMACS Center (Discrete mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science) at Rutgers. He also enjoys teaching and in the year 2000 he was listed under "Who is Who" among America's best teachers.

Don Byron (2007-2008)
Music and Theater Arts
Don Byron received a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1984. He is a Guggenheim Fellow, a classical composer and a Founding member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band. Currently a Visiting Professor at the State University of New York at Albany, he is regarded as one of the top jazz clarinetists in the world. His 2004 recording of "I want to Be Happy" (Ivey-Divey, Blue Note) was nominated for a Grammy Award, and he has been featured in numerous films, most significantly Robert Altman's "Kansas City".

Professor Byron previously visited MIT in March 2005, working with the MIT Jazz Ensemble.

While at MIT as an MLK Visiting Professor, Don Byron will be coaching a pop music ensemble, doing Early Hip Hop music, as well as compose music for and perform as a soloist with the Festival Jazz Ensemble.

Professor Castillo received her B.A. from Northeastern Illinois University in 1975, her M.A. in Latin and Caribbean Studies from the University of Chicago in 1979, and her Ph.D. (cum Laude) in American Studies from the University of Bremen, Germany, in 1991.

Her most recent appointment was as a Visiting Professor at DePaul University in Chicago from 2001 through 2006. Her latest novel, "The Guardians" was published by Random House this summer.

During her MIT visit, Professor Castillo will teach two courses for the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies and the Program in Women's Studies, and is scheduled to give a reading on November 8. She is currently working on her next novel, "the Last Goddess Standing," which is a historical novel about women during the Conquest of Mexico. Her web site is www.anacastillo.com.

William Harris (2006-2008)
Urban Studies and Planning
Professor William M. Harris has taught at several universities. He is currently a planning consultant and head of Harris Planning Associates in Georgia.

He received his B.S. in Physics at Howard University; his M.U.P. in Urban Planning from the University of Washington; and his PhD in Urban Planning (Community Development) from the University of Washington.

He holds memberships in several organizations--to mention a few, American Planning Association, American Institute of Certified Planners, Urban Affairs Association, Community Development Society and the American Collegiate Schools of Planning.

Dale Joachim (2005-2008)
Media Arts & Sciences
Dale earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Michigan State University. He has taught computer architecture, digital logic and speech processing courses at Tulane University while pursuing research in set-membership filtering theory, sound classification and spatial tracking. Prior to joining Tulane University, he served as principal investigator of speech keyword spotting and unattended distributed sensors R&D projects at Sanders/Lockheed Martin, and seven years as lead hardware design engineer of PC subsystems at Zenith Data Systems.

Ainissa G. Ramirez (2006-2008)
Materials Science and Engineering
Ainissa G. Ramirez, PhD is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Yale University. Dr. Ramirez received her training in materials science and engineering from Stanford University (PhD) and Brown University (ScB). Her research focuses on the development of shape memory thin films for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and the development of smart solders. Before joining the faculty at Yale University in 2003, she worked as a member of technical staff at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies in Murray Hill, NJ for 4 years. At Bell Labs, she developed an advanced solder that can bond directly to glass and ceramics, for which she was awarded Tech Review's TR100. Currently, Adhera Technologies commercializes her bonding technology. Dr. Ramirez is also passionate about improving the public's understanding of science and has created a science lecture series for the general public called Science Saturdays.

Dwight Williams (2006-2008)
Nuclear Science and Engineering
Political Science, Security Studies Program
Dwight Williams, Ph.D., P.E. is Principal Nuclear Physicist in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Science and Technology Brain Trust where he is actively involved in defense, intelligence, and research and development activities. Presently, he is working with the White House on a national nuclear research strategy and regularly briefs members of Congress. Professor Williams has found considerable success as a federal employee and an engineer. His marks of distinction include being a former National Young Engineer of the Year award winner and being named a Doctoral Scholar by the Southern Regional Education Board. Recently, he was awarded a Certificate of Congressional Recognition. In addition, he was named a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Fellow. This career defining award is the highest honor available to scientists from the U.S. Intelligence Community and was presented at a White House ceremony. Professor Williams is the first member of the Department of Defense and the African-American ever to win this honor.

Prior to Professor Williams' current position in DoD, he worked as Chief Engineer of the Pentagon's Technical Applications Division. As Chief Engineer, he oversaw all nuclear, biological, and chemical analysis within the Division. Earlier in his career, he instructed international scientists in gamma-ray spectroscopy prior to their service at the United Nations facility in Vienna, Austria.

Professor Williams earned a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland where he investigated radionuclide detection phenomena and environmental radioactivity. He earned an M.S. in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University (NCSU) where he studied plasma physics and controlled fusion. He also earned a B.S. in nuclear engineering from NCSU. In addition to his academic degrees in nuclear engineering, he holds a professional engineering (P.E.) license with a specialization in nuclear engineering.