Farrah Simpson: Change Maker and Thesis Defender

Farrah Simpson successfully defended her thesis “Search for Pair Production of Heavy Top Quark Partners with Electric Charge 5/3e in the Single Lepton Final State in Proton-Proton Collisions at 13 TeV at the CMS Detector” and thereby made history by becoming the first Black woman to earn a doctoral degree in physics from Brown University.

Her doctoral research focused on new physics searches for Vector-Like Quarks and LLPs. She conducted the search for a VLQ that is a heavy fermionic partner of the top quark with an exotic charge. 

She is also actively involved in many Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts within the physics community. She currently serves on the American Institute of Physics (AIP) TEAM-UP Together Committee and the US CMS DEI Committee and has served on the board of the National Society of Black Physicists (2020-2022).

Congratulations, Farrah!