African Americans

"I’ve made many mistakes in my time,” she told her lab team. I expect you to make mistakes. I expect you to tell me what those mistakes are so we can correct them."

"Our basic job is to protect the hope of others,” she says. “We have to be hopeful they will get better or they won’t be."

"The only way that I will be in charge of this [lab] group is if you let me run it my way and there’s no interference from anyone."

"I think of my field as interactive artificial intelligence. My fundamental research goal is to understand how to build autonomous agents that must live and interact with large numbers of other intelligent agents, some of whom may be human. Progress towards this goal means that we can build artificial systems that work with humans to accomplish tasks more effectively; can be more robust to changes in environment, relationships, and goals; and can better co-exist with humans as long-lived partners."

"Definitely related to these efforts, I have put a great deal of energy into thinking about access at all levels, with an eye toward broadening participation in the professoriate. I don't have dozens of papers in this space, but I care about it as deeply as I do my AI research and all the rest that I do. Generally speaking, I split my time among my professor and admin selves because I think efforts around operationalizing and supporting broad access deserve as much intellectual energy and thought as any of our other academic efforts"

"As I’ve grown in my career, I’ve begun to understand just how blessed I was to be afforded the opportunity to attend college and pursue my dreams."

"All in all, I believe that there are many opportunities in this space, and it should interest anyone who cares about any of the areas I mention above. To that end, I have spent time building The Laboratory for Interactive Artificial Intelligence and the pfunk research group. Our research goal is to develop methodologies for building persistent, adaptive, collaborative, and believable agents that must live with other similar agents, including humans."

"It is also worth pointing out that I have developed a strong interest in (re)defining Computing as a separate and vivid discipline. This has most obviously manifested itself in my efforts at curricular development and reform. Possibly related to these efforts, I was the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College for a number of years before becoming the Senior Associate Dean and eventually the Executive Associate Dean (where I retained my role in Academic Affairs while overseeing a lot of the operations of the College). I was lucky enough to serve as the fourth John P. Imlay, Jr. Dean of the College. After four years doing that, I became the Provost at University of Wisconsin-Madison."

"You know, everyone has different reasons for why they believe in something, so I try to be relatively tolerant. But in terms of going down the rabbit hole of social media on that topic, I kind of let my comms team manage that. I really try not to engage with those folks."

"As I was fortunate, it is my responsibility to reach back and help others, especially those most under-resourced."

"I’m energized by this chance to serve the citizens of Illinois and advance the mission of learning, discovery, engagement and economic development”"

"Although I tend to focus on statistical machine learning, my research passion is actually artificial intelligence. I like to build large integrated systems, so I have also tended to spend a great deal of my time doing research on autonomous agents, interactive entertainment, some aspects of HCI, software engineering, and even programming languages."

"After thinking about this problem for a number of years, I've decided that the central technical issues here are: adaptive modeling, especially activity discovery (as distinct from activity recognition); and scalable interaction, including coordination and influence. Further, I have come to believe that as a practical matter, it is necessary to build development environments that support rapid development, and so I try to think seriously about authorial tools, including adaptive programming languages, domain-specific example-driven development, socially-guided machine learning, and corresponding issues in software engineering."

"I was truly happy then, and since I have set sail for the benighted country, I am happier,” she wrote. “When I reach the doleful shores, I shall be happiest. What comfort comes to us from doing the perfect will of God concerning us!”"

"He drew me unto Himself, and after passing through the shadow of doubts, I entered into the blessed light of His love“"

"We have a mission house two miles away, where I work mornings in the capacity of preacher, teacher, and doctor,” she wrote. “I hope to be allowed two years home to study medicine, to better help these suffering people."

"Two people within the last month have brought their idols and desired to be known as believers in the God of gods,” she wrote on October 10, 1887. “I shall keep them to show to friends in America as the first trophies of my Congo work.”"

"When I talk about substructure to Muslims who have read the Quran, I try to relate it to one of the passages that essentially says (with “we” meaning “God”), “We have created you into nations and tribes so that you’ll get to know each other, not so you’ll despise each other, and the best among you is the best with God consciousness.” It fits into the scientific rationale for my work, and there’s an immediate link. That’s what we in the science community have to build with nonscientists; you have to build these links so that they will embrace the science and use it appropriately."

"Unfortunately, we as scientists have not done a good job at explaining what evolution is and decoupling it from atheism—it’s really not about religion at all, it’s about the natural world."

"Any population that has been abused is going to have some issues, and you have to address those issues head-on. Establish rapport, build the trust, and then maintain it, because it can relapse into feelings of oppression very easily."

"It is possible to convey the fundamental aspects of all the science that we do in a cultural context that’s relevant for the people. That’s probably the most important thing that we do in science—to make it real and important for the people that we’re speaking to."

"A very important aspect of being human is to have faith and to have belief, but the science is absolutely essential for our wellbeing as a species, so we should be able to reconcile the two."

"I went to Philadelphia, studied medicine hard, procured my degree, and have come back to Atlanta where I have lived all my life, to practice my profession. Some of the best white doctors in the city have welcomed me and say that they will give me an even chance in the profession. That is all I ask."

"When I saw a colored woman doing all the work in cases of accouchement, and all the fee going to a white doctor who merely looked on, I asked myself, should I not get the fee myself?"

"Can you imagine what it was like for a 19 year old Black female from Tupelo, Missippi who had been immersed in segregation for all her life to attend the University of Wisconsin? I underwent a major culture shock. ... I gravitated to students from Africa, a roomate from Thailand, and an office-mate from India, who was the only person to whom I could ask a mathematics question."

"I have devoted my entire life to increasing the number of highly qualified African Americans in mathematics and mathematics-related careers. High expectations, building self-confidence, and the creation of a nurturing environment have been essential components for the success of these students. They have fully justified my beliefs. Perhaps the most rewarding moments have come when younger faculty have undertaken the same goal and have surpassed my efforts reaching out to the broader community to help minorities and women achieve in mathematics"

"I have spent my career working very hard, I have spent the right time doing the right kinds of jobs and obviously have been in the right kind of assignments to put me in the position to be here. The fact that I’m female is nice; the fact that I’m black is nice, but I don’t think those were the reasons I was selected."

"Men think in terms of only men knowing how engines work, but once the engineers began to explain things to me, I could just see the amazement in their eyes when I was able to ask [intelligent] questions."

"I have no money and no source from which to get it, only as I work for every dollar. Do you know any way that might be provided for an emancipated slave to receive any help into this lofty profession? If you cannot do otherwise, then give me a chance, a fair chance."

"Science organizations in the 1960s and '70s -- and the timeframe is a key part -- did not have a big female population, I can't tell you how many meetings I was the only female there. That's just how it was. But that was getting better by the time I left."

"I think it's important to get started as soon as you can. In one sense, I decided I wanted to get a doctorate when I was 5 years old, but I didn't know that I wanted to be a professor until many years later."

"When most people think of a professor they think "teacher," and that is true. However, my work entails the two other "pillars of professorship"--research and service. On any given day, my research involves everything from grant writing, to presenting experimental results at conferences, to guiding students through their own masters and PhD programs."

"Rockefeller, where she worked for seven years, was an “awesome and inspiring” place to be."

"I tell my students to hone their communication skills, both oral and written. It's no secret that we engineers and scientists are often guilty of being poor communicators, but being able to communicate, especially to the general public, is essential. I love that show "Big Bang Theory," but we're not all that bad! The other thing needed is imagination. You must be willing to step into the unknown because in STEM you won't be hired to solve problems for which the answers are already known."

"(Richmond, Virginia was) a proper field for real missionary work, and one that would present ample opportunities to become acquainted with the diseases of women and children. During my stay there nearly every hour was improved in that sphere of labor. The last quarter of the year 1866, I was enabled ... to have access each day to a very large number of the indigent, and others of different classes, in a population of over 30,000 colored."

"Once my mom told a shop owner I was going to college next year. He laughed and asked if I wanted an "Mrs. degree". Even as a teenager, I was ticked off! There are people who can't fathom women in STEM—especially women of color. Oftentimes as the only African-American and/or female in situations, I STILL run into those subtle doubts or even insults at times. However, I've found that a tough skin, a determined mind, and a prayerful heart can take you through any challenge and to any goal."

"Courage is like — it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: you get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging."

"Remember: In the end, the business of life is the acquisition of memories."

"When we’re infants, we get very little enjoyment out of money. Babies are expensive to take care of, true, but it’s not like they get a lot of enjoyment from spending money. When you’re a baby, there’s no greater happiness than Mom and the crib. In a way, the amount of utility that babies get from money is very similar to what the elderly get. Money is nearly worthless at the very beginning and the very end of life."

"If you spend hours and hours of your life acquiring money and then die without spending all of that money, then you’ve needlessly wasted too many precious hours of your life. There is just no way to get those hours back. If you die with $1 million left, that’s $1 million of experiences you didn’t have. And if you die with $50,000 left, well, that’s $50,000 of experiences you didn’t have. No way is that optimal."

"Once you’ve finally determined your net worth peak, you must start spending down, or decumulating. This means you will be spending more in your real golden years, when you are in reasonably good shape in both health and wealth—between 45 and 60—than people usually do, because most people who save money for the future save for too late in life."

"But I still ask you: Why wait until your health and life energy have begun to wane? Rather than just focusing on saving up for a big pot full of money that you will most likely not be able to spend in your lifetime, live your life to the fullest now: Chase memorable life experiences, give money to your kids when they can best use it, donate money to charity while you’re still alive. That’s the way to live life."

"It may be well to state here that, having been reared by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, whose usefulness with the sick was continually sought, I early conceived a liking for, and sought every opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others. Later in life I devoted my time, when best I could, to nursing as a business, serving under different doctors for a period of eight years (from 1852 to 1860); most of the time at my adopted home in Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. From these doctors I received letters commending me to the faculty of the New England Female Medical College, whence, four years afterward, I received the degree of doctress of medicine."

"In those days, it was common for a woman to be addressed as ‘Miss’ even though she had earned a Ph.D. degree."

"We must teach these people the laws of health; we must preach this new gospel, That gospel, was that the respectability of a household ought to be measured by the condition of the cellar."

"I'd always had an interest in children. Always, from the time I was very small. I'd always thought I wanted to work with children, and psychology seemed a good field."

"[was] the most marvellous learning experience I have ever had -- in the whole sense of urgency, you know, of breaking down the segregation, and the whole sense of really, blasphemy, to blacks, was brought very clearly to me in that office."

"We found the children really didn't want to be black or even brown, then you began to wonder about the whole field of education, and what did it mean that all these children were in one place? You know, what kind of situation is this, that they're isolated from whites, and they can never learn that they're just as good as whites, they're just as bright as whites. They'll always think they're inferior. They'll always think that whites are superior to them."

"Too often girls and minorities get discouraged early in high school from pursuing a career in the atmospheric sciences"

"Science fairs “serve as a natural breeding ground for budding scientists” and “as a continual source of female and minority science-minded students."