Meet Dr. Clarice Phelps, The First Black Woman Involved In The Discovery Of A New Element

Dr. Clarice Phelps earned her place in periodic table history.

The nuclear engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory became the first African American woman known to be involved in the discovery of a new chemical element, according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

Her contribution came through the discovery of tennessine, element 117.

Phelps joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2009 and later became part of a team tasked with processing and purifying berkelium-249, an extremely rare radioactive isotope. That material was then used in experiments that helped confirm the discovery of element 117, ORNL reports.

The work required months of careful separation and purification. Scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia then bombarded the berkelium-249 target with calcium-48 ions, producing atoms of the new superheavy element. IUPAC ultimately confirmed the discovery in 2015, and the element was officially named tennessine in 2016 in recognition of Tennessee institutions that contributed to the research.

For Phelps, the milestone was part of a much longer journey in science.

Before joining ORNL, she served in the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power Program and spent more than four years aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. She later earned a chemistry degree from Tennessee State University, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a focus on nuclear and radiation engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Her work has continued across nuclear science and isotope research, including projects involving plutonium-238, californium-252, and radioisotopes used in medicine, industry, and research.

In 2019, IUPAC selected Phelps for its Periodic Table of Younger Chemists, honoring 118 scientists from around the world. She represented einsteinium and was recognized for both her research and her advocacy for greater diversity in science.

For Phelps, making history was never about working alone. Tennessine was the result of scientists across multiple institutions contributing different pieces to an enormous scientific puzzle.

Her piece helped put a brand-new element on the periodic table.

And in doing so, Dr. Clarice Phelps made sure a Black woman’s name became part of that history, too.