Mareena Robinson Snowden is the first black woman to earn a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
February 28, 2019
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Mareena Robinson Snowden is a living story of black history, her next chapter is just beginning to unfold. The first black woman to earn a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is becoming a thought leader in national security, using her extensive engineering education to influence nuclear policy. Though Robinson Snowden has already made her own mark in the nuclear engineering field, she recognizes the achievements of preceding nuclear professionals as the foundation for her past and the catalyst for her future.
“Today’s engineers are interested in contributing to a policy discussion, just as the original nuclear engineers were during the beginning of the Cold War,” Robinson Snowden said. “That is the legacy I walk in now as a technically trained engineer pursuing policy research.”
The journey to nuclear
Robinson Snowden learned to appreciate the past while earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from Florida A&M University (FAMU), a historically Black university. Beyond academic knowledge, FAMU equipped her with valuable social, professional, and historical insights on life as a successful Black woman.
“At Florida A&M, they were upfront about the fact that if you excel at a high level, you’ll likely be breaking barriers,” Robinson Snowden said. “They prepare you for that reality and its emotional consequences, so I was fortunate to have established that foundation to help me move forward.”
Even with this background, navigating certain environments remained complicated. A summer research experience with MIT introduced Robinson Snowden to nuclear engineering, which she chose to continue studying at the same establishment. And while many MIT students encounter challenges in such advanced academia, being a black woman posed its own set of issues.
As an African-American woman, you often feel this pressure to legitimize yourself. It’s a pressure that’s put on the shoulders of minority women that many of their counterparts don’t have to spend their time and energy thinking about.
Despite this challenge, Robinson Snowden thrived, ultimately making history by graduating from MIT as the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in nuclear engineering. She went on to apply her engineering expertise to nuclear security policy, working as a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Graduate Fellow (NGFP) in the Office of Major Modernization Programs before serving in her current role as a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. At this global think tank, she examines nuclear arms control verification, nonproliferation, nuclear modernization, and other areas, considering obstacles that the U.S. government may be confronted with now or in upcoming years.
Exploring what’s next
As for her own future, Robinson Snowden is less concerned, seeking personal growth and social change over professional gain.
“I’ve never really had a title in mind; instead, I pursue a challenge and a life experience, and I’ve found that in nuclear policy.” she said. “The next decade of my career will be well spent if I can contribute some sound analysis to a nuclear security problem that the international community is facing.”
To look ahead, however, Robinson Snowden reflects on the past. She believes there is often more to history than is generally known and she has made it a mission to contribute to a correction—or completion—of the record.
“We must perform a kind of social archaeology to find and share the stories of minority groups that have traditionally been overlooked,” Robinson Snowden said. “Then, using these stories as inspiration, we can remind future generations that they stand on the shoulders of groundbreaking individuals.”
“I understand the strength and resilience of the African diaspora and it is something that I lean on, the truth that sustains me,” she added. “There is power in our past, if we can tell it properly, and that will be the narrative that shapes our vision of the future.”