Dr. Juan Gilbert, a professor at Clemson University, has single-handedly impacted the representation of an underrepresented group in an entire discipline within the past decade. Specifically, from 2006 to 2009, Dr. Gilbert mentored more than one-third of the nation's African American Ph.D. graduates in computer science. He has increased the number of African Americans actively engaged in STEM through personal mentoring. His mentoring model is spreading now that some of his mentees are becoming mentors themselves. This snowball effect will continue to broaden participation in computing among African Americans and other underrepresented groups. Dr. Gilbert was recently named the Pioneer of the Year by the National Society of Black Engineers and a National Associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies.
