Hakeem Oluseyi

Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi — astrophysicist, cosmologist, inventor, educator, science communicator, author, actor, and humanitarian—was appointed as a Visiting Clarence J. Robinson Professor in August, 2021.

From 2007 to 2019, Dr. Oluseyi was on the faculty of the Florida Institute of Technology in the department of Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences. From 2016 to 2019, he was stationed at NASA Headquarters where he was the Space Sciences Education Manager for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate via the Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program. From 2015 to 2018 he served as the Chief Science Officer for Discovery Communications, Inc. His best-known scientific contributions are research on the transfer of mass and energy through the sun’s atmosphere; the development of ground-based and space-borne observatories for studying astrophysical plasmas and dark energy; and the development of transformative technologies in ultraviolet optics, detectors, computer chips, and ion propulsion. He has authored or coauthored more than 100 scientific publications and has 11 patents.

Dr. Oluseyi is the author of the newly released, best-selling memoir A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars. He appears as a host and scientific authority on Science Channel television shows, How the Universe Works, Space’s Deepest Secrets, and Strip the Cosmos. Beginning in October, 2021,  he will be a judge on the Netflix series Baking Impossible. Additionally, Dr Oluseyi appears regularly as an expert on ABC News, CNN, and NBC news. He has lent his voice and scientific expertise to the award-winning science education video game ExoTrex: A Space Science Adventure Game as well as videos on NASA’s YouTube channel Science@NASA. In addition, Dr. Oluseyi co-authored the children’s popular science book Discovery Spaceopedia: The Complete Guide to Everything Space. Dr. Oluseyi holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from Stanford University and a dual degree B.S. from Tougaloo College.