Chekesha Liddell facts for kids

Chekesha M. Liddell Watson is a brilliant scientist who works as an Associate Professor at Cornell University. She studies tiny materials called colloids. Her research helps us understand how these super small particles behave and how they can be used to create new technologies.

Early Life and Education

Chekesha Liddell grew up in Tallahassee, Florida. From a young age, her parents noticed she had a natural talent for understanding shapes and spaces. When she was just 8 years old, Chekesha started attending special workshops for math and science.

In high school, she spent a summer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, she joined a camp for young scientists from diverse backgrounds. She even worked with a top female scientist at Kennedy Space Center and helped write a science paper with her!

In 1999, Chekesha achieved something amazing. She graduated from two different colleges in the same year! She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry with top honors from Spelman College. At the same time, she also received a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

She was awarded a special scholarship from NASA for women in science and engineering. This scholarship allowed her to study how a chemical called arsenic affected chickens. She did this research while working at the Kennedy Space Center. In 2003, she earned her PhD in Material Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. Her big research project was about using tiny, non-round zinc sulfide particles to build special light-controlling materials. After earning her PhD, she received a grant to help start her career.

Research and Contributions

Dr. Liddell creates special materials called photonic crystals. These crystals can be used in things like solar cells to make them work better. She uses tiny particles, called colloidal building blocks, to assemble these crystals. She has also worked on how very small particles, shaped like half-spheres or pairs, can put themselves together.

Dr. Liddell joined the faculty at Cornell University in 2003. She is also a member of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. In 2006, she received a major award called the National Science Foundation Career Award. This award helped her research new ways to design photonic crystals. Her work from this award led to 16 published scientific papers!

In 2009, Dr. Liddell received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This is one of the highest honors the U.S. government gives to young scientists and engineers. In 2011, she was recognized as one of Cornell's Emerging Scholars.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Chekesha Liddell Watson has received many important awards for her work:

• (2011) Named an Emerging Scholar by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine.
• (2010) Received the Provost's Award for Distinguished Research from Cornell University.
• (2009) Was a distinguished lecturer for Dow Chemical Company at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
• (2007) Received a Certificate of Appreciation for Mentoring from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
• (2007) Invited to the Frontiers of Science Symposium by the National Academy of Sciences and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
• (2006) Awarded the NSF Career Award for her research on photonic crystal design.
• (2003) Received a Career Initiation Grant to help start her academic career.
• (1999-2003) Awarded a Graduate Fellowship from the Office of Naval Research.
• (1999-2003) Received the Georgia Tech President's Fellowship.
• (1999-2003) Awarded the Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Sciences Fellowship.
• (2000) Named a Fellow by the National Society of Black Engineers.
• (1999) Received a Fellowship Grant from the Hertz Foundation.
• (1999) Awarded the J. Keith Brimacombe Presidential Scholarship from TMS materials society.
• (1998) Received an ASM Foundation Scholarship from ASM International materials.
• (1999) Awarded the Mary R. Norton Memorial Fellowship from ASTM.

See also

In Spanish: Chekesha Liddell para niños