Meet The Gangsta Astrophysicist and NASA Educator – Hakeem Oluseyi

Black scientists are significantly underrepresented, despite experiencing racial unfairness from the early years, these remarkable people still make efforts to keep their eyes on the prize. From well-known black scientists like George Washington Carver to James West – who co-invented the microphone to those whose impressive scientific records have nearly languished in obscurity, the candidness remains that black scientists have been pioneering research and improving the way of lives for the earth’s many citizens even before the civil war. Who even knew that black women worked as mathematicians at NASA in the early 20th century(?) probably the reason you shouldn’t believe history books any longer.

Stories change, and one man’s case isn’t different, rather it’s a tale of how to achieve the American dream; this rising star is Hakeem Oluseyi – an internationally recognized astrophysicist, educator, inventor, author, humanitarian and TV personality who went from holding guns in the streets of Mississippi and a floating school life after his parent got divorced to becoming a space superstar and a guardian of the universe. Oluseyi often explains that one of the hardest things for him was navigating the different societies or situations he found himself without coming across as ‘that black dude’. Even after getting into Standford, he failed to pass his doctorate qualifying exams and was advised to withdraw from the programme, a necessitated call that offered him the chance to rediscover himself and set out to do the right things. Today he bags a degree in maths and physics, an MS and Ph.D. in physics from Tougaloo College and Stanford University respectively.

Although Oluseyi’s research isn’t “earth-shattering,” it’s solid and covers a breadth of topics, reflecting his willingness to let ideas surface without worrying how others will react, said NASA astrophysicist Alphonse Sterling, Oluseyi’s friend, and colleague. “Hakeem comes up with good ideas and ones we don’t use,” he said. “He has the courage to bring them up and filter them out.

The restless physicists had spent his early career years with a large computer-chip manufacturing company in Silicon Valley where he worked on eight patents. However, he left the position because of managerial restrictions of some of his ideas and also because he missed teaching. Right now, Oluseyi spends his time at NASA, where he is the Space Sciences Education and also a Professor of Physics and Space Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology. He features on four Discovery Channel series and ‘How to survive the end of the world’ on the National Geographic Channel as well as plenty of video talks at conferences, festivals, and TED talks around the world. As interesting as it gets, the former U.S Navy also teaches astronomy in Africa and leads the One Telescope Project – an initiative focused on supplying every country with at least one research-grade telescope.