2009 Women of Color Special Recognition Honorees
Deborah Hall-Greene Jerraine M. Johnson
Senior Corporate Business Partner National Institute of Standards
HR Director and Technology
Center for Enterprise Modernization
The MITRE Corporation
BSc – chemistry, Morgan State
University
MSc – organization and human resource PhD – physical chemistry, Univer-
development, American University sity of Southern California
PhD – adult learning/human resource de-
velopment, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University, Blacksburg, VA
Jerraine Johnson has ex-
celled in her fi eld of study:
Deborah Hall-Greene is a MITRE
Using proteins in drug de-
Corp. good citizen. A human
livery and tissue engineer-
resource executive, her dedica-
ing. She plans to combine
tion to service adds value both
the skills she learned at the US Department of Commerce’s
to MITRE and her community. Last
National Institute of Standards and Technology with those
year, Dr. Hall-Greene energized her staff and won the support
acquired in her previous experiences. Her goal is to develop a
of top management for an important community project.
new method that will improve the shelf life of protein-based
therapeutics, such as vaccines, and make them more acces-
The veterans internship program (VIP) is aimed at providing
sible to countries which currently don’t have optimal storage
a yearlong MITRE Corp internship to a service member from
facilities.
the rehabilitation program at Walter Reed Army Hospital and
Bethesda Naval Medical Center. The VIP developed as an
A primary problem in formulation has been the lack of reli-
outgrowth of Suits for Vets, a program where Dr. Hall-Greene
able methods to measure and predict which formulation will
coaches veterans in job-interviewing techniques. Nine veter-
preserve protein properly.
ans have benefi ted from Suits for Vets, which also helps obtain
At University of Southern California’s Department of Chemistry
the clothing the vets need to go on job interviews.
(2000-2005), Johnson joined the biomaterials group to follow
The results convinced MITRE President and CEO Al Grasso that
up on a discovery they had made of a correlation between
the VIP would be a program worthy of broader application.
protein stability in sugar-based glasses and relaxation in the
As a result, he made it available for replication by other CEOs
glasses as measured by neutron scattering. She worked to
in the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Associa-
develop a method using fl uorescence for obtaining hydrogen-
tion. AFCEA is a non-profi t membership organization serving
bonding lifetimes in sugar-based glasses. Johnson also served
the military, government, industry, and academia as an ethical
as the chemistry graduate student organization’s president.
forum for advancing professional knowledge and relationships
In 2004, she won the one-of-a-kind Jay Struckoff Memo-
in the fi elds of communications, IT, intelligence, and global
rial award for her excellence in all areas of graduate student
security.
life—research, teaching and service to the graduate student
Outside MITRE, Dr. Hall-Greene has conducted annual science
body. Johnson has published in two of the highest-profi le
and math seminars at local schools, and she speaks at engage-
journals in her fi eld, Nature and the Journal of the American
ments encouraging under-represented youth to pursue STEM
Chemical Society
careers. She has also organized her Delta Theta Sorority sisters
In addition to her many activities in the science and technol-
to feed the homeless, even taking her MITRE human-resources
ogy arena, Johnson serves as the alternate councilor on the
team to serve meals at a shelter as part of a team-building
board of managers for the Chemical Society of Washington,
event.
where she works very closely with Project SEED. The program
In addition, Dr. Hall-Greene has been a dedicated volunteer of
gives minority high-school students access to participate in
Tuskegee Airmen Inc. for 20 years. She joined the East Coast
research projects and activities hosted by investigators in aca-
chapter as a member who supported the mission to acknowl-
demia, government and industrial laboratories.
edge and preserve the history of African American aviators
in World War II, and to perpetuate their legacy by inspiring
youth to strive for excellence through educational opportuni-
ties. She provided guidance in the awarding of the Congres-
sional Gold Medal to the surviving Tuskegee Airmen in March
2007.
50 WOMENOFCOLOR | FALL 2009
www.womenofcolor.net
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