The Panelists: Invited to speak this year were Harold T. Conner, Dari Gabriel, and Jasmine Toy.

Conner has enjoyed a career of more than 55 years in nuclear energy. After being the first African American to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Tennessee, he went on to hold high-level positions at Department of Energy sites across the United States. Now “retired,” he serves as a consultant for United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), a contractor specializing in nuclear deactivation and decommissioning, and for Strata-G, an Oak Ridge company that supports DOE projects...

...He talked about the stress that he experienced in college. “In those days, I had a huge afro. . . . You know, I had a bunch of hair, and I thought I was going to change the world. I got to college and I found out, hey, things are different here. . . . I'm thinking I'm cool. But then, after I started taking graphics and statistics and trig and the preparatory courses for starting my chemical engineering degree, the pressure mounted and it was like, where did the hair go? So it started falling out. Actually, it did fall out, at 18, I guess. But it grew back. I got my afro back, but there was the stress and strain of being this first little black boy in this University of Tennessee.”

He continued, “People ask me, well, how did you deal with that? . . . And the thing that I remember the most is the friends that I made, the instructors, all the people I collaborated with. You just learn to deal with it. People say, how was it? How did you make it? Well, like you're doing now, sitting around the room with people that you loved, relationships that you built, and doing things together. And so, I made it through that start...

...So, I had a chance to get that experience as a co-op student working at the Oak Ridge National Lab and the K-25 site in Oak Ridge...”

...Conner’s career took off after that. “I ended up working all around the country, and from this little black kid that integrated the University of Tennessee–Martin, to supervising and leading several thousand people in many parts of this country. The thing I would say to you as you consider engineering at the University of Tennessee and beyond is to be collaborative, work in teams regardless of nuclear or chemical or electrical, mechanical, biomolecular, molecular, whatever you choose, you will have to work as a team. Much like your family unit, much like your high school. When you get out into the industrial world, you will be uniquely part of the team...”