For One New Rattler Ph.D, Life is about to Get Better!

Jami Valentine, a 1996 cum laude graduate of Florida A&M University, became the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in physics from the Johns Hopkins University. She is, only, the second African American woman in the State of Maryland to earn such a degree.

Ms. Valentine successfully defended her dissertation on May 1. The Title of her dissertation is "Spin Polarization Measurements of c–Axis Epitaxial Rare Earth Thin Films."

The Philadelphia, PA, native is a FAMU "Life-Gets-Better" scholar. The Life–Gets–Better scholarship provided her the opportunity to work at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory each summer while working on her undergraduate degree. While at FAMU she was a student research assistant in the Center for Nonlinear and Nonequilibrim Aeroscience.

Upon graduation from FAMU, Jami went on to attend Brown University in Rhode Island, where she received the Brown University Fellowship and Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) fellowship. While at Brown she worked with Professor James Valles. She was awarded the Sc.M. in Physics in 1998. She also earned a certificate in teaching from the H. W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning.

At Johns Hopkins University, Jami worked in experimental condensed matter physics, under the guidance of Professor C.L. Chien. She was awarded the M.S in 2004 and the Ph.D. in 2006. Her research interests center around magneto–electronic materials and devices.

Life ends too soon for Rattler pharmacist
Wilmoth Baker Jr., who along with his wife, operated Bakers Pharmacy across from the Florida A&M campus and mentored dozens of future pharmacists, died late Sunday.

Mr. Baker was 78. He entered Capital Regional Medical Center last Thursday after suffering the latest of several strokes over the past two years. He is survived by his wife of nearly 54 years, Kathleen "Kitty" Baker.