GFSD Staff
Rochelle L. Williams Ph.D., Executive Director
Rochelle L. Williams, Ph.D. is an engineer, educator, and advocate for equitable environments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions. Dr. Williams comes to GFSD with 14 years of experience as a non-profit leader and champion for equity, inclusion, and justice in engineering education. In addition to her leadership abilities, Dr. Rochelle currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator on several National Science Foundation grants (totaling over $6.4M since 2020) with partners including, WEPAN, SWE, SHPE, AISES, Kennesaw State, and the Algebra Project. She also serves as the Past President of the Women in Engineering Proactive Network (WEPAN) Board of Directors.
Dr. Rochelle previously served as the Chief Programs and Membership Officer at the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), where she was responsible for achieving the strategic outcomes of the society and for supporting the planning and implementation of programs, membership initiatives, and research. Prior to joining NSBE, Dr. Rochelle served as Project Director and Co-Principal Investigator for the ADVANCE Resource Coordination (ARC) Network with the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) and Research Scientist in the Office for Academic Affairs at Prairie View A&M University. In 2016, Rochelle was selected as a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC. As a fellow, she supported the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine on the initial phases of the study that led to the Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report.
Having received her Bachelor of Science in physics from Spelman College and both her Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education from Southern University and A&M College, Dr. Williams intentionally works to promote the excellence and innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochellelwilliamsphd/) (rochelle@stemfellowships.org)
Joretta Joseph, Ph.D., Program Director
Joretta Joseph, EdD has a diverse background. As a first-generation college student, Dr. Joseph attending Clark Atlanta University where she received a BA in Accounting, Howard University and attained a Master’s in Business Administration, and the University of Southern California where she earned her Doctorate in Education in Higher Education Leadership. For the last 18 years she has been the Program Administrator and Graduate Advisor at the Graduate Fellowship for STEM Diversity (formerly the National Physical Science Consortium). As a Program Director she has had the opportunity to assist graduate students pursue their academic goals in the STEM fields. She has published work on various areas of equity and diversity in higher education. Dr. Joseph has conducted research and have knowledge in the areas of culture, student
success, identity, and issues of gender equity within higher education. At various time throughout the years, she has also been and adjunct professor at a local community college and a designated 4-year HSI. In addition to her professional experiences, Dr. Joseph is a community board member of a local school. Dr. Joseph has a great appreciation for academic culture and has mentored students as they prepare to begin their academic journey. (gfsd@stemfellowships.org)
Board of Directors
Dr. James “Jim” Powell
James “Jim” Powell was born in Berea, Kentucky, and earned his undergraduate degree in geology from Berea College. He holds a Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Berea College and Oberlin College. He taught geology at Oberlin for more than 20 years and is a longtime Fellow of the Geological Society of America.
Dr. Powell has held numerous senior leadership roles across higher education and science institutions, including serving as President of Franklin & Marshall College, President of Reed College, President of The Franklin Institute, and President and Director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He was appointed to the National Science Board by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and served for 12 years. Asteroid 9739 Powell was named in his honor.
In January 2022, Dr. Powell retired after 20 years as Executive Director of Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity, where he helped shape and strengthen the organization’s national impact in advancing opportunity in STEM.
He is the author of numerous books that explore science, history, and public understanding of science, including Faith in Fallacy: A Century of State-Sanctioned Science Denial (Oxford), Mysteries of the Deep: How Seafloor Drilling Expeditions Revolutionized Our Understanding of Earth History (MIT Press), Unlocking the Moon’s Secrets: From Galileo to Giant Impact (Oxford University Press), The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming, and Deadly Voyager: The Ancient Comet Strike That Changed Earth and Human History.
Among the honors he values most are the naming of a geology laboratory in his honor at Oberlin College and his recognition as one of Berea College’s “100 Notable Bereans.” He credits Berea College, Oberlin College, and MIT with shaping his lifelong commitment to scientific excellence, education, and public engagement.
Dr. Kerri Blobaum
Kerri Blobaum is a materials scientist in the Materials Science Division at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She received a B.A. in chemistry and mathematics from Wartburg College (Waverly, IA) in 1994, a M.S. in materials science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996, and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. As an undergraduate student, Kerri completed internships at Argonne National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Kerri first came to LLNL as a summer student in 1994, and then followed her LLNL mentor, Professor Tim Weihs, to JHU where she studied phase transformations and materials characterization of reactive multi-layer foils. Kerri returned to LLNL in 2001 as a postdoc and applied her skills to studying phase stability in plutonium-gallium alloys. As a staff member, Kerri contributed to work related to plutonium aging and led an internal research project on the kinetics of martensitic transformations in Pu-Ga alloys. Since that time, Kerri was involved in a variety of projects at LLNL, including leading the multi-disciplinary team that developed the infrastructure and techniques for fabricating special high-precision targets for high-energy-density experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), serving as the scientific editor for LLNL’s publication “Science & Technology Review,” and building a plan and team to assess and certify manufacturing fluid compatibility for a new stockpile component. Prior to her current role on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Defense Programs Science Council, Kerri was the LLNL program manager for the Aging and Lifetimes Program; she managed a portfolio of projects related to new and legacy materials in the nation’s nuclear stockpile, and diagnostic development for Core Surveillance. In the Materials Science Division at LLNL, Kerri was the Associate Division Leader for Materials for Program Enablement.
Kerri also serves on the Board of Regents at Wartburg College and the Board of Directors for the non-profit organization GFSD, which grants graduate fellowships in STEM fields. As an undergraduate, Kerri earned a GFSD fellowship, with LLNL as her sponsoring employer; she credits the experience she had as a GFSD summer intern at LLNL for launching her career.
Dr. Tracie Durbin
Tracie Durbin is a Systems Research Analyst at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). She is a first generation college graduate from a Title 1 secondary school, as well as a Pell Grant recipient. Tracie was a National Physical Sciences Consortium (NPSC) fellow at Georgia Institute of Technology with SNL as her sponsoring employer, and obtained her Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering in 2004. She has been at SNL since then and has contributed as a technical staff member to the labs global security and nuclear deterrence missions, and is now in the Chief Research Office. Tracie is passionate about increasing access to careers in STEM and credits the NPSC fellowship, and the support she received from her manager at SNL, with giving her the confidence to pursue graduate school.
Marinda Thomas
Marinda is a San Francisco native and a proud Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity alumni. After receiving a BS in Chemistry from Howard University, GFSD supported her in receiving a MS in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. She started her professional career as an Environmental Engineer and designed water/wastewater infrastructure projects across California before realizing she liked people even more than pipelines.
Marinda has since been recruiting in Silicon Valley for over 10 years, initially specializing in software engineering, product and design searches. She then moved into a leadership recruiting function, first at a boutique agency and then in-house at Facebook. From there, she next launched her own successful recruiting business, helping a wide variety of startups identify both technical and non-technical talent of all levels. She is now the Sr Talent Acquisition Partner at Geli, a startup in the renewable energy storage space.
When she’s not working, Marinda is an avid snowboarder and loves camping (and glamping!) during the summer months. On her quest to be a polyglot, she speaks Spanish, decent German and horrible Italian.
Dr. Kendrick Davis
Dr. Kendrick B. Davis is a national leader in STEM equity, public policy, and research-practice partnerships. He is a professor of research and the inaugural co-director of the USC STEM Center, a research and practice hub advancing high-quality STEM teaching and learning across PK–20 systems. His work spans STEM improvement, institutional transformation, and inclusive workforce development.
Trained as a mechanical engineer and roboticist, Dr. Davis holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Temple University and a master’s in robotics engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He also earned a master’s in law and a PhD in higher education from Penn, reflecting an interdisciplinary career at the intersection of technology, policy, and equity.
He previously served as chief research officer at the USC Race and Equity Center and as a US Senate education policy advisor. He has led citywide STEM initiatives in Philadelphia, advised federal science agencies, and currently leads research and evaluation for national STEM equity efforts funded by the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and major philanthropic foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At the NSF-funded Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC), he oversees undergraduate research and technician training programs supported by more than $3 million in grants, which have impacted over 400 MSI and community college students, and won the National Program Innovation Award in 2023 at the High Impact Technology Exchange Conference.
Jahleel Hudson
Jahleel Hudson is the Director of the Technology and Partnerships Office (TPO) in the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) where he oversees the Academic Programs, Technology Transfer, Planetary Defense, and Research Security efforts. Mr. Hudson’s office ensures that strategic interactions with other federal agencies, private industry, academia, and foreign entities are established, maintained, and conducted in the best interest of the NNSA and the Nation.
These interactions include (1) technology transfer activities conducted at the NNSA laboratories, plants, and sites, (2) a broad array of mission-relevant partnerships supported through memoranda of understanding (MOUs), cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs), grants, centers, working groups, and councils, and (3) headquarters’ review and oversight actions to ensure program compliance with Executive Orders, Federal statutes, Department Directives, Congressional language, or Department of Energy/NNSA Strategic Guidance.
Prior to his time as the TPO Director, Mr. Hudson served in numerous and varied positions deep within the weapons’ program. He was a Program Manager for research and development for the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and Cruise Missile programs, Program Lead for the nuclear weapon annual assessment process, and the Executive Action Officer for the Nuclear Weapons’ Council. Mr. Hudson is the recipient of the prestigious Defense Programs’ Award of Excellence for his work supporting the Nation’s nuclear stockpile. Mr. Hudson is a mechanical engineering graduate of Howard University.