Willetta Greene-Johnson Informations

Willetta Greene Johnson (born March 1, 1957) is an American physicist, musician and choral director. She is a Lecturer in the departments of physics and chemistry at Loyola University Chicago.

Greene's parents were both scientists—her mother, Bettye Washington Greene, was one of the first African-American women to receive a PhD in chemistry and her father trained Tuskegee Airmen. Her childhood was spent discussing science and listening to music, including Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand and The Beatles. She was inspired by Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven). Greene-Johnson studied physics at Stanford University, graduating in 1979 with a distinction. She began her college career as a pre-med major but switched to physics. In 1979 she joined the ATandT Cooperative Research Fellowship Program (CRFP). As part of the program she spent a summer working at ATandT's labs. She was one of the first African-American women to complete a PhD in theoretical physics, which she earned in 1988 at the University of Chicago. Her research looked at the dynamics of vibrational phase relaxation at surfaces.

After her PhD, Greene-Johnson became a Ford Fellow in the department of physics at Loyola University Chicago, where she worked on surface optico-physical interactions. She joined the faculty of Loyola University Chicago in 1992. She has been Master Teacher of chemistry and physics since 2005. She teaches courses in general chemistry, college physics, quantum mechanics and biophysics. She was a keynote speaker at the 2014 Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics.

Her 2004 song, "Saved", is featured on a Grammy Award winning Brooklyn Tabernacle CD project. It was translated into four languages and distributed worldwide. In 2010 she was named as a Woman of Excellence for her achievements in music. She plays with the Chicago Sinfonietta and has conducted in their annual Martin Luther King concert. Her contract at Loyola University Chicago allows her to spend three months of the summer composing and recording music. She has performed with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Throughout her career she has preached and written about biblical topics.

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