First Black woman earns Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT

Mareena Robinson Snowden has become the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The 30-year-old told CNBC that she was “grateful” to have made the distinction. “Grateful for every part of this experience – highs and lows,” she wrote on her Instagram page. “Every person who supported me and those who didn’t. Grateful for a praying family, a husband who took on this challenge as his own, sisters who reminded me at every stage how powerful I am, friends who inspired me to fight harder. Grateful for the professors who fought for and against me. Every experience on the journey was necessary and I’m better for it.” The Carnegie Endowment now employs Snowden for International Peace. She is focused on nuclear security, which involves policy research and writing about nuclear weapons.