Under-represented and Under-cited: Titus Pankey and the type 1a supernova mechanism

The historical record often overlooks the contributions of people from underrepresented groups. In one such example, an African American doctoral student correctly explained the type 1a supernova mechanism in 1962, seven years before the commonly cited seminal paper by Colgate and McKee was published. This physicist, Dr. Titus Pankey Jr, went on to have a productive career in experimental semiconductor and material science research at the Naval Research Laboratory and at Howard University. However, despite these successes and the priority of his work his dissertation remains poorly cited and only in recent years has that begun to change. In this talk I will disccus the scientific and historical context of Dr. Pankey's dissertation, describe some recent efforts to raise awareness of his career, and make recommendations to the community on how to recognize his contributions.