K. Renee Horton

Key takeaways

K. Renee Horton belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect K. Renee Horton to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of K. Renee Horton from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

K. Renee Horton is an American physicist and an Airworthiness Deputy at NASA. She was the first black person to receive a PhD in material science and engineering with a concentration in physics at the University of Alabama. She is an advocate for black women in STEM fields and for disability rights.

Early life and education K. Renee Horton grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her father worked at a local chemical plant as a technician before returning to school for a degree in computer science; her mother worked as a clerk before returning to school to earn a degree as a medical assistant. Many members of her family had technical skills and training, "none of them was a scientist." As a child, she aspired to becoming an astronaut. From this inspiration, she decided to pursue science, despite concerns from her father that black people might not be able become scientists, although "he did know some black engineers." An early talent in mathematics, Horton graduated from high school at 16. Enrolling locally at Southern University, the "Black School" in Baton Rouge, Horton's plan was to join the Air Force ROTC program. This plan was disrupted when she failed a hearing test, revealing hearing loss that, undiagnosed, had dogged Horton for years. Then 18, Horton dropped out of school, got married, and moved with her husband to Germany on his military assignment. Returning to academia seven years later after completing a technician's degree in electronics, Horton enrolled at Louisiana State University to complete her B.S. in electrical engineering (2002). While at LSU, Horton experienced discrimination as a disabled person, the adaptive hearing devices she was then using not being sufficiently advanced to make up for her hearing deficits. Then, following her transfer to hometown Southern University to work on a master's degree in Physics, she experienced discrimination as a woman. At both schools Horton was confronted by professors who told her in direct terms that she didn't "belong." She attended the University of Alabama for her doctoral degree. In her second year of study at UA, administration realized that Horton was "the first black person to go through the materials science program" with a concentration in physics. Despite her NASA fellowship that was supporting her studies at this time, this created tension in the department, and she was forced to switch advisors several times until finding a congenial working situation with UA's Aerospace Department in the laboratory of Mark Barkey. In 2011, Horton received her PhD in material science and engineering with a concentration in physics, becoming the first Black person to not only work in, but to receive a degree in this discipline from the University of Alabama. She was awarded the Black Engineer Trailblazer Award that same year. When a local reporter called her former advisor for a quotation for the write up, he was not willing to give the paper a quote. Her thesis was titled "Microhardness, strength and strain field characterization of self-reacting friction stir and plug welds of dissimilar aluminum alloys," advised by Mark Barkey. While completing doctoral work, Horton also worked at the Center for Materials for Information Technology at the University of Alabama, where as part of her work she led an outreach program for children in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Career Horton was a NASA Space Launch System (SLS) Quality Engineer at Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she began working in 2012. There, she worked on the rocket that will send Artemis astronauts and cargo to the Moon. As of 2022, she became an airworthiness deputy for the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstrator Project at NASA. In 2016, Horton was elected president of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP). Upon election, she became the second woman to hold the role of president. In 2017, she was elected a fellow of the NSBP. She has also served on the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Women in Physics Working Group and the Edward Bouchet Abdus Salam Institute (EBASI) Executive Body. The same year, she delivered the commencement address to the graduating class at her alma mater, Louisiana State University. She is also a board member of Lighthouse Louisiana, which focuses on empowering individuals with disabilities. Horton is the founder of Unapologetically Being, Inc., a nonprofit that supports advocacy and mentoring in STEM.

Personal life Horton had three children in the period between her second year of work on her B.S. and her completion of that degree, and has written extensively on the challenges of raising three children as a single parent with impaired hearing. While at University of Alabama, Horton was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Horton has three children and two grandchildren. She is currently managing the band Xcitement.

Books Horton is the author of the "Dr. H" children's book series focused on STEM topics.

Select publications Women in Physics in the United States, AIP Conference Proceedings 1119, 189 (2009) Anisotropy Graded Media: Extending the Superparamagnetic Limit (abstract), AIP Conference Proceedings 1119, 217 (2009);

Awards NASA Space Flight Awareness Team award NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Certificate of Appreciation Honor Award Trailblazer Award, 2010 Black Engineer of the Year Awards Inducted to Sigma Pi Sigma (2018) Louisianan of the Year (2019) LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction honoree (2020)

References

External links Video: Faces of Technology – Meet Renee Horton Video: Black Women in Tech: Dr. K Renee Horton breaks barriers in space Personal website, K. Renee Horton Des Moines Public Library Podcast: Dr. K. Renee Horton Renee's YouTube Channel

Archival resources 3rd IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with K. Renee Horton

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what K. Renee Horton claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to K. Renee Horton before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about K. Renee Horton ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of K. Renee Horton

In research: K. Renee Horton appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses K. Renee Horton in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: K. Renee Horton is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics African-American physicists, American physicists, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for K. Renee Horton outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study K. Renee Horton in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what K. Renee Horton means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain K. Renee Horton out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is K. Renee Horton in simple terms?

K. Renee Horton is an American physicist and an Airworthiness Deputy at NASA.

Why does K. Renee Horton matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study K. Renee Horton?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on K. Renee Horton.