Scientist to headline North Central College MLK event
A Fermilab scientist known as the first African-American to have a scientific equation that bears his name will be the featured speaker Monday during a Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast at North Central College in Naperville.
Herman B. White is a North Central board member who recently retired from a 45-year career as a senior scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia after working on design, commission and data analysis of several high-profile particle physics experiments.
He and Raymond J. Stefanski created an empirical formula to calculate neutrino flux in high-energy interactions, which now is known as the Stefanski-White equation.
White is scheduled to give a keynote speech during the annual prayer breakfast at the college, where Martin Luther King Jr. himself spoke in 1960. The breakfast begins at 10 a.m. at the Dr. Myron Wentz Science Center, 131 S. Loomis St. It also includes a performance by Voices of Praise, a welcome from North Central President Troy Hammond and prayers from the Rev. Eric Doolittle, college chaplain, and Brian Rainville, director of faith and action.
The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has a tradition of hosting a week of celebrations each year for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to commemorate the civil rights icon's visit to campus.
Keynote speakers in the recent past have included hip-hop artist Common, feminist professor and author Roxane Gay and #BlackLivesMatter co-founder Patrisse Cullors.
White will be the main speaker at a time when he is also is included in the "Black Creativity 2020" exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The museum is celebrating 50 years of its "Black Creativity" exhibit, which began in 1970 and has become the nation's longest-running display of African-American art. It also aims to highlight achievements and careers in creative fields as well as science, technology, engineering and medicine.
The event is free and open to the public, but the college asks that anyone who wants to attend make a reservation by contacting Marilyn Zydlo at (630) 637-5151 or mdzydlo@noctrl.edu.