"I explained what I wanted to do. I warned that it would be different from what they were used to. Then I asked if they could help me. And they all agreed." --Rita Thornton

"I had no idea that there were other African-American woman astronomers until I hooked up with the National Society of Black Physicists during my master's degree." --Jarita Holbrook

"I produce 10 data points that completely undermine what everybody thinks they know about the archaeological record here. It was really important and really interesting, and almost nobody believed me." -Joan Brenner Coltrain

Jennifer Zimbroff (pictured above) wanted to understand why qualified high school students, especially minority students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, fail to take advantage of the college opportunities that are available to them.