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Physics Program

Dr. Diola Bagayoko


Bio | Curriculum Vita | Narrative | Grants | Publications | Presentations

Diola Bagayoko, Ph.D.

Southern University System Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics, Director Emeritus, the Timbuktu Academy Email: Diola_Bagayoko@subr.edu or Bagayoko@aol.com

Mailing Addresses: P. O. Box 11776, SUBR, Baton Rouge, La 70813 or Room 232/241 W. James Hall, Southern University and A&M College,

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70813 - Telephone: 225-771-2730

Fax: 225-771-4341/-4848 Web Page: http://www.subr.edu/page/3049

Dr. Bagayoko is a fellow of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) and of the American Physical Society (APS). He earned the BS degree in Physics and Chemistry from the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENSup) of Bamako, Mali, the MS in Physics from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the Ph.D. in condensed matter theory from Louisiana State University (LSU), under the supervision of the late Boyd Professor Joseph Callaway. Dr. Bagayoko received over 36 major awards and recognitions that partly attest to his contributions to broadening the participation of minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A few of these awards are specified below. With over 220 publications, 155 of which are in theoretical physics and over 65 in teaching, mentoring, and learning (TML), Dr. Bagayoko demonstrated the scholarly productivity that behooves an Honors College Dean. His superior grantsmanship is buttressed by over 88 sponsored projects whose total funding is over $62 Million, from 1985 to 2018. Dr. Bagayoko has served as consultant for national and international organizations that include the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Defense, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the TOKTEN Project, and tens of universities, in and outside the US. His more than 660 local, state, national, and international presentations partly attest to his national stature as a scholar, teacher, and mentor. His successful six-year chairmanship of the Department of Physics (2009-2012) and that of Mathematics and Physics (2012-15) and four-year deanship of the Dolores Margaret Richard Spikes Honors College partly underscore his administrative prowess, besides the flawless management of over 88 sponsored projects; his execution of sponsored project funds over $62 Million did not lead to a single audit finding. During his short tenure as the Director of the Office of Grants, Sponsored Programs, and Faculty Development (1987-1988), Dr. Bagayoko uplifted SUBR from being among the least funded universities in the competition for the Board of Regents Support Fund (BORSF) to the top two, in gross funding, and to the No. 1 position in funding level normalized with respect to the size of the faculty. Bagayoko was the principal author of the proposal and strategic plan, which passed rigorous reviews by out-of-state experts for the Board of Regents, for the establishment of the Ph.D. degree program in Science and Mathematics Education at SUBR. The more than 300 former undergraduate mentees of Dr. Bagayoko, through the Timbuktu Academy and LS-LAMP, include 22, 13, and 7 Ph.D. degree holders in Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering and 14 Student Grand Marshals. For more information, please see www.subr.edu/timbuktuAcademy and www.subr.edu/lslamp. The 1988 Faculty Senate position paper, drafted by Dr. Bagayoko and adopted by the Faculty Senate, led to the establishment of Ph.D. degree programs at SUBR- as ordered by the Special Master of Higher Education Desegregation. Bagayoko led the project that established the network infrastructure of SUBR (1988-1994). [ A few of Dr. Bagayoko’s major awards follow on the next page.]

 

 

Selected Ones of the 36 Major Awards and Recognitions Received

by Dr. Diola Bagayoko and the Timbuktu Academy

 

Fellow of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP, 1992) and of the American Physical Society (APS. 2018)

 

2017 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Innovation Award at the Be All You Are (BEYA) STEM Global Conference in Washington, D.C., February 9-11, 2017

 

Inducted into the Hall of HistoryMakers (ScienceMakers), 2013.

https://www.thehistorymakers.com

 

Louisiana Role Model Award (2012)

 

2009 Lifetime Mentor Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)]

 

Commander of the National Order of Mali (2008).

 

The National Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) Distinguished Faculty Award to Dr. Diola Bagayoko, Director, the Timbuktu Academy, March 15, 2008, at the Marriott Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.

 

The National Benjamin Banneker Legacy Award to Dr. Diola Bagayoko and the Timbuktu Academy, November 7, 2007. This award was presented to Dr. Bagayoko by Dr. William (Bill) Cosby, at the J. W.Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C.

 

The Timbuktu Academy, under the directorship of Bagayoko, won the 2002 US Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.

 

Southern University System Distinguished Professor of Physics, August, 1999.

 

U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring

(September 25, 1996. Washington, D.C.).

 

National Exemplary Undergraduate Program Award to the Timbuktu Academy, Directed by D. Bagayoko, from the Quality Education for Minority QEM) Network, Washington, D.C. (Spring, 1996)

 

LA Governor's Award for Excellence in School Science Reform, March 24, 1993.