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Prior
to joining the NSF staff, Dr. Tolbert was the first African
American and the first female to serve as Director of the
U.S. Department of Energy's New Brunswick Laboratory. This
laboratory is located in Argonne, Illinois, and it is a nuclear
analytical chemistry laboratory, which has a predominance
of chemists on its staff. Her work involved management functions
and policy issues pertinent to the U.S.A. nuclear energy programs.
She was responsible for directing the laboratory in its various
functions (i.e., to prevent the spread of nuclear materials,
prepare and certify nuclear reference materials for use in
the standardization of instruments, evaluate the measurement
capabilities of different nuclear laboratories worldwide,
and measure the amount of nuclear material in samples from
various sources throughout the world). From May to August
of 2001, she served as Acting Associate Director of the U.S.
Department of Energy's Office of Laboratory Operations and
Environment, Safety and Health. Among Dr. Tolbert's other
significant accomplishments are the following: the first African
American female to serve as Director of the Division of Educational
Programs at Argonne National Laboratory; the first African
American to serve as Special Assistant to the Vice Chairs
of the Presidential Committee on Education and Technology
of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering,
and Technology; the first female to serve as Director of the
Research Improvement in Minority Institutions Program of NSF;
and the first female to serve as Director of the Carver Research
Foundation of Tuskegee University, which is the research foundation
established in 1940 by Dr. George Washington Carver. From
1988 to 1990, she was the highest-ranking African American
female employed at the BP America Research Center at Warrensville
Heights in Ohio. There she served as Senior Planner and Senior
Budgets & Control Analyst. In academia, she has served
as Visiting Associate Professor of Medical Sciences (Brown
University in Providence, Rhode Island), Professor of Chemistry
and Associate Provost for R&D (Tuskegee University in
Tuskegee, Alabama), Instructor in Mathematics and Science
(Opportunities Industrialization Center in Providence, Rhode
Island), and Associate Dean of the School of Pharmacy and
Professor of Pharmaceutical Science (Florida A&M University
in Tallahassee, Florida). For a short period, she was assigned
by TeleSec, Inc. to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Chevy
Chase, Maryland) to review scientific proposals submitted
to its International Program. Prior to and following this
tenure, she served on proposal review panels and Committee
of Visitors to several Federal agencies (e.g., National Science
Foundation) and private sector organizations (e.g., National
Research Council). Also, she has served as Guest Scientist
at the International Institute for Cellular and Molecular
Pathology in Brussels, Belgium. Dr. Tolbert has completed
tours of duty in such countries as Ghana, Liberia, Libya,
Sudan, South Africa, Senegal, Austria, and Belgium. For scientific
and educational purposes, she has established national and
international linkages among scientists, science administrators,
and educators.
Dr. Tolbert
is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), New York
Academy of Sciences, Sigma Xi, the Institute of Nuclear Materials
Management, and the Chicago Chemists' Club.
She has
received numerous awards for her contributions to society.
The AAAS honored her with an appointment of AAAS Fellow in
1988. Also included among her awards are the following: Women
of Color in Government and Defense Technology Award in Managerial
Leadership (July 2001); Letter of Congratulations on Winning
the Award in Managerial Leadership (Secretary Spencer Abraham
- July 13, 2001); Performance Awards for fiscal years 1999,
2000, and 2001 from the Chicago Operations Office of the U.S.
Department of Energy; Chicago-Tuskegee Alumni Club President's
Merit Award (1999); Secretary of Energy Pride Award for Community
Service (1998); and Certificate of Distinguished Service to
the Federal Reserve System and excellent contributions to
the Bank and to the economic progress of the Sixth Federal
Reserve District (1987).
Her biography
appears in several publications including Who's Who in
America (2000 to Present), US Black Engineer & Information
Technology (June/July 2001), Notable Black American
Scientists (K. Krapp, Gale Research, 1999), Black Women
Scientists in the United States (Wini Warren, Indiana
University Press, 1999), Journal of College Science Teaching
(1998), American Men and Women of Science, Outstanding
Young Women of America, Journal of Nuclear Materials
Management (C. Pietri, INMM, 1997), and Distinguished
African American Scientists of the 20th Century (J.H.
Kessler, et al., Oryx Press, 1996). From January until March
of 2000, she was included among the scientists in the Black
Creativity Exhibit titled "African American Women in Science
and Technology" held at the Museum of Science and Industry
in Chicago, Illinois. Additionally, she was featured in a
Chicago Tribune article titled "Lab Coats and Space
Suits" (February 2, 2000; Section 8, Pages 1-2). Dr. Tolbert
has served as invited speaker at numerous conferences and
meetings and has published papers on scientific as well as
non-technical topics in peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Journal
of Biological Chemistry, Metabolism, Journal
of Nuclear Materials Management, Journal of the National
Technical Association, and Journal of College Science
Teaching). She continues to serve as a mentor for students
interested in science and mathematics. Dr. Tolbert was born
in Suffolk, Virginia, to the late Mr. & Mrs. Clifton J. Mayo.
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