Home About News Rackham Alum Celebrates 50th Episode of Modern Figures Podcast Rackham Alum Celebrates 50th Episode of Modern Figures Podcast Kyla McMullen is U-M's first Black woman to graduate with a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering—and she’s driving change and scaling her influence with a podcast. December 14, 2022 | Rackham Graduate School Categories: News Rackham alum Kyla McMullen (MSE CSE ‘07, Ph.D. ‘12) is the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering from U-M. In addition to her work as an associate professor and director of the SoundPad Lab at the University of Florida, McMullen is working to diversify academia and her field in a variety of critical ways. Perhaps most recognizably, McMullen is co-host of Modern Figures, a popular podcast that elevates the voices of Black women in computing. Conversational and accessible, one goal of Modern Figures is to encourage high school listeners to consider a career in computing-related fields. The podcast, hosted by McMullen and her University of Florida colleague Jeremy Waisome, and presented by the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS) in collaboration with the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), recently celebrated its 50th episode. Waisome and McMullen are also collaborating with University of Florida colleagues Juan Gilbert and Christina Gardner-McCune to explore a support system for students in the University of Florida Ph.D. program who have low-income backgrounds through a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Read the full story from Michigan Engineering Tags: news alumni computer science and engineering
Representation Matters: Bringing Firsthand Experience to Political Science December 20, 2022 | Rackham Graduate School Rackham political science alumna and Barbour Scholarship recipient Mervat Hatem has dedicated her career to understanding the complex political realities that shape the world around us. Through a generous gift to Rackham, she’s working to ensure a new generation of scholars can follow in her footsteps. Barbour Scholars Alumni Spotlights
Patterns of Force: Preserving Memories and Finding Justice in the Shadow of the Ukraine War January 4, 2023 | Rackham Graduate School As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, sociology Ph.D. candidate Kristin Foringer and a team of U-M researchers are working with the Reckoning Project to collect eyewitness testimonies of the violence—and use them to gather evidence of war crimes. Student Spotlights