Ronald E. Mickens

Ronald Elbert Mickens (born February 7, 1943) is an American physicist and mathematician who is the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Physics at Clark Atlanta University. His research focuses on nonlinear dynamics and mathematical modeling, including modeling epidemiology. He also has an interest in the history of science and has written on the history of black scientists. and served as the historian of the National Society of Black Physicists. He has made significant contributions to the theory of nonlinear oscillations and numerical analysis.

Early life and education Ronald Elbert Mickens was born February 7, 1943, in Petersburg, Virginia, to Joseph P. Mickens, a general construction worker, and Daisy Brown Williamson Mickens who was a part-time domestic worker. The eldest of three children, Mickens was raised primarily by his maternal grandparents. It was through discussions with his grandfather, James Williamson, that Mickens was inspired to become a scientist at age six

Mickens is African-American and has had an interest in the history of science, and specifically the history of black scientists, throughout his academic career. He has served as the historian of the National Society of Black Physicists and he was a member of the founding council of the Edward Bouchet Abdus Salam Institute, an organization founded in 1988 by Nobel laureate in physics Abdus Salam to encourage collaboration between African and American physicists, where he continues to serve as a council member.

Mickens' papers are held by the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University.

Awards and honors

Fellow of the American Physical Society Mathematically Gifted & Black Honoree, Black History Month 2017