Willie Hobbs Moore facts for kids

Willie Hobbs Moore (born May 23, 1934 – died March 14, 1994) was an amazing American scientist. She was a talented physicist and engineer. Dr. Moore made history as the first African American woman to earn a special degree called a PhD in physics.

Early Life and Education

Willie Hobbs was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on May 23, 1934. Her parents were Bessie and William Hobbs.

In 1954, she started college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She was a first-generation college student. This means she was the first in her family to go to college.

She earned her first degree, a bachelor of science in electrical engineering, in 1958. Then, in 1961, she earned a master of science degree in the same field.

Dr. Moore continued her studies and earned her doctorate in physics in 1972. This made her the first African American woman to get a PhD in physics from an American university. Her important research for her PhD was about "A Vibrational Analysis of Secondary Chlorides." She worked on this with her professor, Dr. Samuel Krimm, who was an expert in spectroscopy.

Career Highlights

While she was working on her advanced degrees, Willie Hobbs Moore also worked at different technology companies in Ann Arbor. These included KMS Industries and Datamax Corporation. She also held engineering jobs at places like Bendix Aerospace Systems and Sensor Dynamics. In these roles, she did a lot of theoretical analysis, which means she studied how things work using scientific ideas.

After earning her PhD, Dr. Moore stayed at the University of Michigan. She worked as a lecturer, teaching students, and as a research scientist until 1977. During this time, she continued her work on proteins using spectroscopy. In just five years after finishing her PhD, she published more than thirty scientific papers. She wrote these with Dr. Krimm and other scientists. Her work appeared in important journals like the Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy.

In 1977, Dr. Moore joined the Ford Motor Company as an assembly engineer. She helped Ford use new ideas from Japanese engineering and manufacturing. In the 1980s, she wrote a technical paper. This paper helped Ford use the ideas of a Japanese engineer named Genichi Taguchi in their car designs.

In January 1991, Ebony magazine recognized Dr. Moore. They named her one of the 100 "Most Promising Black Women in Corporate America." This showed how important her work was.

Legacy and Awards

The University of Michigan remembers Willie Hobbs Moore with special awards. The Women in Science and Engineering office created the Willie Hobbs Moore Awards.

• The Aspire, Advance, Achieve Award honors people who guide students in Science, Technology, and Engineering (STEM) fields.
• The Willie Hobbs Moore Achievement Award celebrates great efforts to make STEM more fair and open for everyone.

Personal Life

Willie Hobbs Moore cared about her community. She was a tutor at the Saturday African-American Academy in Ann Arbor. This program helped students from grades 5 to 12 learn science and math. She was also a member of The Links, Incorporated, a group that helps communities.

Dr. Moore had two sisters, Alice Doolin and Thelma Gordy. She was married for thirty years to Sidney L. Moore. He taught at the University of Michigan's Neuropsychiatric Institute. They had two children, Dorian Moore, who became a M.D., and Christopher Moore, who became a Registered Nurse. Willie Hobbs Moore also had three grandchildren: Sydney Padgett, William Hobbs Moore, and C. Jackson Moore.

Sadly, Willie Hobbs Moore passed away from cancer in her Ann Arbor home on March 14, 1994.