The HEROic Podcast

Tori Rhoulac Smith is a civil engineer and HEROES Fellow. In her interview with Greg, she talks about being an NSF Program Director, a faculty member at Howard University – her alma mater, interviewing Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, and wise advice from mom.

After completing her undergraduate degree, Erin spent seven years teaching English and special education in high schools. Since then, her goal has been to improve K-12 education by improving educators and then later by improving the institutions that educate the educators. The fallout from her HBCU themed talk got her banned by TEDx. Her conversation with Greg covers all of this and more in detail and then also talks about various steps in her career, the origin of the HEROES Initiative, and her cake decorating and custom dressmaking hobbies.

Greg Davis interviews HEROES Fellow Emily Davis (no known relationship) in a wide ranging conversation. They begin with working at the National Institutes of Health and then move on to a range of topics including DNA in mice and humans, supporting researchers through the early stages of their careers, board games, and more.

Greg interviews Christine Wood, the Assistant Program Director, HEROES Program. Christine was almost a HEROES Fellow herself before being selected for this managerial role. She talks about her working at the NSF, research in sociology, tennis, living in DC, and romance novels from the era of the Kinsey Report.

Before becoming a HEROES Fellow, Quincy Brown built up broad experience in the private sector, academia, The National Science Foundation, and the White House. In her interview with Greg, she discuessed all of these places along with astronaut autographs and baking cakes in unusual shapes.

Ken Wright is an electrical engineer with a long career at NASA before becoming a HEROES Fellow in 2026. In addition to NASA, he also served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under both President Obama and President Trump. Ken's interview with Greg includes stories of meeting a president, recording sounds in the desert at night, and fighting cancer in microgravity.

Brad Lusk has done an amazing array of things. In his interview with Greg he discussed a few including running a company, educating children, educating seniors, traveling the world, studying imposter syndrome, and exploring caves. He also has done top end research in biochemistry including winning a National Science Foundation STTR award.

Greg Davis interviews fellow HEROES Fellow Amaka Nwankwo. Amaka has experience in education and public health with a focus on communicable diseases. Her varied career included representing the United States government in many countries including Nigeria, Angola, and Vietnam. Today she is excited about her role as a HEROES Fellow.