Ximena Cid facts for kids

Ximena Cid is an amazing physicist, teacher, and researcher. She is also a strong supporter of helping more people from diverse backgrounds get involved in STEM fields, especially physics. She is a Chicana and Indigenous American scientist.

Currently, Dr. Cid is an associate professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She used to be the head of the physics department there. She made history as the first Latina and Indigenous student to earn a PhD in physics from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is also likely the first Indigenous person to lead a physics department in the United States. Dr. Cid's research includes using 3-D computer models to help people understand things like gravity and electric fields.

Early Life and Family Background

Ximena Cid was born in Sacramento, California. Her parents are Armando Cid and Josephine Talamantez. She also has a twin sister. Her father was an artist from Zacatecas, Mexico. He was part of a group called the Royal Chicano Air Force in Sacramento.

Her mother is Chicana and Yaqui (an Indigenous group). She helped start Chicano Park in San Diego. She also worked with the California Arts Council. Dr. Cid's grandfather was also a member of the Yaqui tribe.

Growing up, Ximena and her family were very active in their community. They worked with groups like the Chicano Movement and the American Indian Movement. They even marched with famous leaders like Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. In high school, Ximena played the viola and violin. She played professionally with Mariachi Femenil las Aguilas. This was the first all-female mariachi band in northern California.

Ximena Cid's Education Journey

Ximena Cid went to the University of California, Berkeley for her first college degree. Before starting classes, she attended a special summer program. This program helped her get ready for college life. During her studies, she worked on research with her advisor, Janet Luhmann. She also played violin in a mariachi band to help pay for college.

In 2005, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in astrophysics. Her focus was on space physics. Her father, who was an artist, designed her graduation cap. After college, Ximena studied abroad in Italy for a semester. Then, she did a summer research program with Ramón E. López at the Florida Institute of Technology.

After a year-long break, Dr. Cid started graduate school in 2006. She went to the Florida Institute of Technology with Dr. López as her advisor. After one year, she moved with Dr. López to the University of Texas at Arlington in 2007.

For her advanced degree, she worked with other scientists. They studied how people learn physics, especially how they understand things visually. Her main project was about how visual thinking helps students learn physics and space science. In 2011, she earned her master's and PhD degrees in physics from UT Arlington. She was the first Latina and Indigenous student to get a physics PhD from that university. In 2011, she was one of only two Indigenous people in the entire country to earn a PhD in physics.

Career and Contributions

Academic Roles and Leadership

After finishing her PhD, Dr. Cid started teaching in 2011. She worked at Dallas College North Lake Campus in Irving, Texas. She also helped train other teachers there on how to teach physics better. After six months, she took a special research position at the University of Washington in Seattle. She worked with the Physics Education Group and Lillian McDermott for three and a half years.

While in Seattle, she helped Indigenous people in the community with tutoring. She also held workshops for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) at the University of Washington. She volunteered with other groups that support students from minority backgrounds.

In 2015, Dr. Cid became a professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. In April 2020, she became the head of the physics department there. She is known as the first Indigenous person to lead a physics department in the United States.

Helping Others in Science

Throughout her career, Dr. Cid has done a lot of outreach work. She has been a member of the American Physical Society's group for diversity. She has also served on diversity committees for the American Association of Physics Teachers. She continues to work with the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). She is a lifetime member of this group.

She also served on the board of the National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP). While on the board, she helped organize "Día de la Física" (Day of Physics). This event helps and encourages Latinx and Indigenous students.

In 2017, Dr. Cid joined a five-year project with NASA and the American Association of Physics Teachers. They worked together to create new teaching materials. This group, based at Temple University, made a special curriculum about the 2017 solar eclipse. It was used in a summer program for students.

Dr. Cid also organized a meeting called "Indigenous in Physics" in 2017. This was at the SACNAS yearly conference. In 2020, she helped start the Society of Indigenous Physicists. She worked with other physicists like Brittany Kamai, Franklin Dollar, and Corey Gray. In the same year, Dr. Cid helped lead the #ShutDownSTEM, #ShutDownAcademia, and #Strike4BlackLives protests. These protests aimed to address unfair treatment of Black people in universities and science fields.

Awards and Recognition

• Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service to AAPT, American Association of Physics Teachers, 2018
• Winter Fellow, American Association of Physics Teachers, 2021