Black voices in physics: Kétévi Assamagan

This interview is part of PT‘s “Black voices in physics” series of Q&As with Black physicists.

Born in Gabon in central Africa, Kétévi Assamagan moved at age 4 to Togo, where he stayed through college. He then moved to the US, where in 1987 he earned a PhD in nuclear physics at the University of Virginia. After postdoctoral stints at Jefferson Lab, Hampton University, and CERN, in 2001 he joined Brookhaven National Laboratory, where he is a staff scientist. He has made his life and career in the US but remains involved in science activities in Africa. Among other things, he advises African PhD students, and he is the main organizer of the African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications , a nonprofit program that trains researchers, teachers, students, and policymakers across the continent. Last year he was elected to the African Academy of Sciences.

PT: What research are you doing at Brookhaven?

ASSAMAGAN: I’m currently focusing on searches for new physics beyond the standard model, including searches for new particles and understanding the nature of dark matter. I also worry about physics education and outreach. I am involved in Snowmass 2021 [the US priority-setting exercise in particle physics], for which I am co-convener of the Community Engagement Group.

PT: What’s it like as a Black physicist in the US compared with being one in Africa?

ASSAMAGAN: Growing up in Africa when I did, things were different but not necessarily better than here. African scientists relied heavily on Europe. Most of my colleagues went to France because it was the country that colonized Togo. My coming to the US was an exception.

It’s extremely different here. I had to do a lot to integrate, including with the African American community. Early on, for example, I visited a white friend, and an African American friend was shocked because it was in an area where the Ku Klux Klan was active. But I was treated well. My friend’s grandmother asked to touch my hair—that horrified my African American friends. Today I would think twice about it, now that I’ve grown into this environment. I am no longer so naive.

PT: Have you been treated differently within the physics community?

ASSAMAGAN: Yes, I think so. There were people who didn’t believe in my abilities. The prejudice is not provable, but it’s there in the daily interactions that you don’t feel good about. You feel something is not right.

I was once denied continuation of appointment. However, on review, the decision was reversed because it was not based on bad performance or a lack of funds. There is stuff like that.

I was once stopped by the on-site police at a major institute after they followed me around for a while. I can’t claim it was racially motivated, but it was improper—they should not follow me around. Things like that make you suspicious.

At Brookhaven I have had support from my chairman and the diversity officer. There are good people here. And sometimes people who don’t accept you in the beginning open up, and things improve.

PT: Did you find the situation was better in France and Switzerland when you worked there as a visiting scientist?

ASSAMAGAN: It’s not better there. I didn’t experience discrimination in the lab there, but I did have bad experiences while walking around in society. I also met lots of good people.

PT: Do you feel optimistic that the energy and intensity in the Black Lives Matter movement will make a difference?

ASSAMAGAN: I would like to be optimistic. In physics, for real change, we need people in leadership positions—people who can make decisions—to buy into change.