Dr. Aprille Ericsson

Dr. Aprille Ericsson was the first female (and the first African-American female) to receive a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University and the first African-American female to receive a Ph.D. in Engineering at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She is originally from Bedford Styvesant, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. She was he oldest of four daughters. Dr Ericsson found her aptitude in math and science when she started attending Marine Park JHS. She also graduated from Cambridge School of Weston with honors, and she was always active in sports and other extra-curricular activities. Her interest in Aerospace was stroke when she had the opportunity to visit an Air force base in New Hampshire through the MITE (formally known as UNITE) program. She later earned a bachelors' in Aeronautical / Astronautical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

At Howard University, Dr. Ericsson's study was funded by NASA GSFC COOP, HU Terminal Dissertation Year, and NASA Center for Studies of Terrestrial & Extra Terrestrial Atmospheres, Wright Patterson Air Force Laboratories and Dorothy Danford Compton Dissertation, NASA DC Space Grant Consortium, Patricia Roberts Harris, and Pacific Telesis Foundation. Dr. Ericsson's job at NASA as an engineer has given her opportunity to work on many projects, including the Microwave Anisotropy Probe, the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission, the James Webb Space Telescope, and in the Integrated Mission Design Center. Currently she is the instrument manager for a proposed mission to bring dust from the Martian lower atmosphere back to Earth.

Dr. Ericsson has won many awards, including the 1997 "Women in Science and Engineering" award for the best female engineer in the federal government, and has been profiled by NBC Nightly News, Essence Magazine, and other media outlets During her research at Howard University, she got the chance to travel and compete. She won in almost all of them including the "6th International Space Conference for Pacific-Basin Societies" were she won first place for the Ph.D. student competition. She was acknowledged by the National Technical Association, for being amongst the Top 50 minority women in Science and Engineering, received a Special Recognition Award at the Black Engineers Award Conference. She has also received four NASA awards, they are: 1998-NASA Goddard Honor Award for Excellence in Outreach, 1998- Center of Excellence Award for the TRMM Project, 1999-Customer Service Excellence Award for MAP Flight Software, and 2002- NASA Exceptional Achievement Award for Her Outreach efforts.

Dr. Ericson received the "1999 Federal Career Award" from The Federal Executive Board of Excellence of Maryland, a "Topp's Africa-Centered Award" from Bowie State University, and a "Centurion of Technology Award" at the Women's of Color Technology Awards Conference. In February of 2000, she received a "Giant in Science Award" from The Quality Education for Minorities Network: Mathematics, Science and Engineering and a NASA Customer Service Excellence Award for MAP Flight Software. April 1, 2001, she got an award from the Marketing, Opportunities in Business & Entertainment Conference for being an Innovator in Internet Technology. In December of 2001, she was warded an honorary Doctor of Science from Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, NY. In 2002, she got the Howard University College of Engineering, Architecture, & Computer Science Alumni Excellence Award and several NASA Awards; one was for Exceptional Achievement in Outreach.

Her interests of minorities and females in the math, science and engineering disciplines encouraged her to join the NASA GSFC Speakers Bureau and the Women of NASA Group. She currently teaches at Howard University at the collegiate and middle school level and is a member of their Board of Trustees. According to Dr. Ericsson, "without diversity in all fields the United States will not remain technically competitive."

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The mission of NSBE is to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community.